A Heart Renewed
by CrimsonCrome
Summary: Sora's starting his sophomore year and already he's been in a fight. Can he survive the newly arrived gang? Also, can he get the new girl to open up to him? What makes her act the way she does? Cloud, OCs, Riku, Yuffie, Kairi, Namine, Roxas, Tifa...
1. Prologue

**A Heart Renewed **

**By: ****CrimsonCrome**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any of the Final Fantasies, or any of the companies who do. I only write these stories under the permission of the owners._**

_A/N: Please consider the rating of teen. It is rated teen in case of graphic killing scenes, and other violence. Also, be forewarned that there may be religious material included in this story, so if you take offense then you don't have to read it, but you may just be moved if you do. Thanks._

Prologue

It was barely evening when Sora first awakened to the sound of a lone flute whispering its tune on the fading winds of twilight. He had been napping on the sand, soaking in the sun and listening to the waves. It was a small blessing that he did not get sunburned easily, for he took these naps often on the sand. He usually awoke to something that changed in his environment, usually Kairi's voice.

However, this particular evening, it was the sweet music of a silver flute that filled his ears and stirred his senses. Hoisting himself up from the ground using his gloved hands, he made his way toward it, using only his sense of hearing to guide him.

He was led to the secret place, drawn to it. Sora ran his right hand along the wall, feeling the moisture on the rocks through the fabric of his gloves. The temperature of the air dropped and he shivered.

Once inside, Sora's eyes were not yet fully adjusted to the lighting. He squinted and saw a figure with it's back turned toward him. Slowly he could make out a feminine form. His curiosity was threatening to overwhelm him, but he managed to stand still and listen to the song. It's notes echoed off the walls and filled his ears. It was a beautiful song, but in a way lonely.

Then abruptly it ended and the figure whirled to face him.


	2. First Day

**A Heart Renewed**

**By: CrimsonCrome**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own original characters and original settings/made-up ideas. Thank you._**

_A/N: Let my story truly begin. This is sort of before Sora began his fateful journey, except all the characters from all the games may show up!_

Chapter One

It was nearly dawn and the cool sand gave way to Sora's big yellow shoes. He was walking to Destiny Island High, the public school he had been attending ever since he had come of age. There weren't many students there, maybe a grand total of one hundred per grade– maybe. In any case, it was all he had ever known.

The Island he had lived on his entire life was a small one. It was one of three. They were all called Destiny Islands. The one he lived on was Fate's Cove. The other two were Foretelling Isle and Vision Shores.

He was heading toward Vision Shores, where his school was located. The island wasn't very big, but it held the entire town. When Sora came to the bridge that connected the two islands, he saw that the town looked dark in front of the rising sun. Not much seemed to move, but the powerful sunrays made Sora squint and he wasn't really able to see anything anyway.

The sound of his shoes making contact with the cobblestone bridge was the only sound Sora could hear. It was deathly quiet, an unusual circumstance even for his small town. The wind was dead and no noise penetrated the eerie silence, save the steady rhythm of his shoes on the stones.

Sora was relieved when he saw a familiar face come from the bakery shop right next to the bridge, someone who was quite able in providing sound.

"Good morning, Sora!" Selphie messed with her brown, curly ends of her hair absently. "Are you excited about starting sophomore year? Or more importantly, who are you taking to homecoming?"

"Uh –" Sora stared on in confusion at the cute girl, but she wasn't finished talking.

"Oh, I bet you're going to wait and see if there are any hott freshman, aren't you! So typical of you boys! Hey, could you help me carry my books for me?" Selphie extended her reading material and binder.

Glad to be rid of her questions, Sora gladly took hold of them and walked beside her, not really listening to her complain about her hair, her nails, and how Tidus was always calling her bossy. "You don't think I'm bossy, do you Sora?"

Sora had been zoning out, staring at the scribbles she had written on her trapper.

Selphie huffed. "Well, do you? Sora! SORA!"

"Huh? What?" He snapped back to reality, barely avoiding a street lamp.

"How are you ever going to get yourself a girl if you can't even listen to your _friends_ that are girls?" Selphie stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Look Sora, you're cute, but you're spacey. Girls like a guy who can pay attention, so **pay attention**! Now, I asked if you thought I was bossy?"

Sora grabbed the books with one hand and held it to his leg. He then ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Maybe sometimes."

Selphie opened her mouth in surprised opposition. "I can't believe you said that Sora! Never mind! _No_ girl will ever like you!" She continued toward the school, walking a bit faster than normal. Sora followed uneasily.

They were halfway to the school now and Sora was already feeling completely confused by Selphie. He shook his head, deciding to ignore her ranting and find his best friends.

The town was waking to the sun's beckoning. Shop owners began putting out open signs. The town factory's pipes began to pour out unhealthy pollution. Several adults were already in the streets, carrying laundry loads, baskets, and groceries; most looked tired. Several smells began to waft into the morning air, mostly of fresh baking bread and fruit.

Selphie waved hello to a street merchant. Sora noticed her face had already taken on the appearance of a forgetful smile. She was short tempered sometimes, but her bursts of anger didn't last very long. He liked that about her, quick to forgive and always forgetting.

A finger tapped Sora on the shoulder and he whirled around to see Riku standing behind him. "Going to school?"

"Yeah, want to come with us?" Sora asked, stopping Selphie.

Riku put both his hands on his hips. "I suppose. Not that I want to show up as a junior who hangs out with a bunch of sophomores."

"Cool, interesting, and classy sophomores. Actually, that's only me, never mind!" Selphie smiled jokingly at Sora, who nudged her playfully.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you've got a point Selphie, I could show up with you. But Sora I can't be seen with."

"Hey!" Sora laughed. "C'mon, we're going to be late."

Selphie, who had been blushing at Riku's comment about her, nodded and they went on.

They arrived at the school ten minutes early. Many of the students were already there, kicking around a hacky sack or talking in a group.

Sora was the first to spot Kairi, Tidus, and Wakka. They were all standing together, talking. Kairi, of course, was giggling.

Riku ran up to them and tapped Kairi on the shoulder. "Hey."

Kairi turned and smiled. "Oh hi, Riku! We were just talking about you! Tidus and Wakka were saying that you beat them and Selphie in a duel! That must have been really difficult!"

"Not really," Riku said, puffing out his chest.

Tidus shrugged. "He actually kicked our butts pretty good. Not gonna lie."

"Ya, he was all over us!" Wakka shook his head in amazement.

Sora came over to them. "Hey, I beat all of you guys too!"

Tidus guffawed. "Yeah but you were completely winded afterward! Riku beat us without even so much as breaking a sweat!"

Kairi giggled.

Sora burned with anger. "Yeah right!"

Selphie snickered, obviously enjoying his jealousy. "It's true."

The bell to the school rang. Students merged toward the front doors.

"Hey Kairi, what's your schedule?" Sora asked, already lost.

"Go to your homeroom first, Sora," Selphie said knowingly.

Sora was split up from all his friends as he pushed and shoved past people to get to his homeroom class. There were only a few students in there.

The teacher who ran Sora's homeroom class was sitting at his desk in the far corner. He had a deformed leg and walked with difficulty whenever he had to move somewhere else. Sora liked him a lot though, because he was a very wise man.

"Good morning, Sora," his teacher said.

"Hey, Mr. Oyu! Do you have our schedules?" Sora looked nervously over to a pile of stacked papers on the man's desk.

"Lost already, Sora? Yes, I have your schedules, and I made sure to highlight yours in different colors, so it'd be easy for you to figure out where you are supposed to go when," Mr. Oyu smiled fondly at Sora then waited like the rest for the bell to ring.

Sora listened as Mr. Oyu called the names for the schedules. Then one name sounded that Sora did not recognize.

"Patience Lyndenburg?" Mr. Oyu held out the paper to a girl Sora had never seen before. She had been sitting behind him, that's why he hadn't noticed her. She came up right behind Sora and turned to look at him before nervously grabbing the paper from Mr. Oyu's hand. She was tall, lanky, and very pale. Her hair was beautiful, hanging just above her waist, a gleaming black waterfall. Her eyes were an eerie shade of green, offset by several blue specks. But Sora's favorite feature was her delicate hands. He couldn't explain it, but they were beautiful.

Patience walked quickly back to her seat and nearly tripped over herself as she tried to sit down.

Sora's interest was sparked. This new girl was new territory, someone who didn't know him at all. His mind began racing with thoughts about "casually" bumping into her. Any new addition to Destiny Island High was a big deal. She would be the center of attention for a least a month, if not longer.

The bell rang and Sora jumped. He could have kicked himself for not looking at his schedule and trying to figure out ahead of time where he would be going. He looked and saw Patience slip out the door. He felt stupid for not getting the chance to talk to her.

After grabbing his books he entered the hallway and looked at the highlighted numbers. The first class he would go to would be band class. He had lots of friends in band class, but Riku wouldn't be in there. He felt a sort of uneasiness when he wasn't around him.

The band class was easy to find. He had been there last year, first period as well.

Riku passed him in the hall and barely glanced at him as Sora waved a hello.

Sora felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over it, but no one was there. Confused, he looked over his other shoulder and found a grinning Kairi.

"Gotcha!" She giggled and walked even with him in the hallway.

"Did you sign up for band this year?" Sora asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm playing the flute. Hey, did you see the new girl? She looks so scared!" Kairi's face was covered with concern and Sora couldn't help feel bad for Patience.

"Yeah, she was in my homeroom. What's the deal with her?" Sora asked.

"I don't know yet, but give me until lunch and I would probably be able to give you her _address_!" Kairi rolled her eyes.

Sora shrugged. "It's a big deal when someone new comes here. Speaking of which…" Sora pointed down the hallway.

The two stopped and stared at the oncoming crowd of black coats. All of the figures were tall and muscular. Sora noticed first a red headed guy with green eyes. They walked up to Sora and Kairi.

"What are you looking at, punk?" The red head asked.

Sora gulped a bit and then regained his composer. "You. Who are you guys?"

The red headed boy laughed. "You'll know in time. Soon everyone will know not to mess with Organization Thirteen."

"Organization Thirteen?" Kairi whispered with a strange sense of dread.

Another boy stepped up. He had brown hair. "Yeah. That's the name of our gang, sweetie." He winked at her and Kairi blushed in embarrassment.

Sora stepped in front of her.

"Ooh, tough guy!" The red head hissed.

"Let's _go_, Axel," another of them said. He was a blond. He looked older than most of them.

"Fine," the red head turned and stared at Sora. "Next time there won't be anybody there to protect your little girlfriend."

Sora raised both fists, but the principle came around the corner. "What's going on here boys?"

Kairi turned and looked at him. She was pale as a ghost. "Nothing, sir."

"Get moving. Won't want to be late on your first day. That gives a bad impression," the well-dressed principle stated warningly.

The one named Axel walked by him and looked the man up and down. "I'm not worried about bad impressions."

Sora watched the rest of the gang pass and go down the hall behind Axel. For a second, he could have sworn he saw a person dressed in white in between them, but he didn't get a chance to see whom they were hiding.

Kairi nudged him. "Let's go to class."

In band, Sora got the chance to talk to some of his friends. Most of them told him the gang had already beaten up a pretty tough football player who had given them lip. It was only a matter of time before they became the school bullies.

"So Sora, what did they say to you?" Roxas asked him. He was a good friend of Sora who coincidentally looked a lot like him, except his hair was blond.

"Well, they kept flirting with Kairi, that's for sure," Sora sighed. "They even called her my girlfriend."

"She _should_ be your girlfriend. When are you going to ask her out?" Roxas gave him an annoyed look.

"I don't know that I want anything more than our friendship. I like it the way it is," Sora pulled his trumpet case from his band locker. Roxas followed him, dragging his tuba.

"C'mon. You should ask her to homecoming! That would be awesome," Roxas pumped a fist in the air and nearly dropped the big tuba.

"No. I'm not going to," Sora walked over to his chair and set down his trumpet case. "Besides, I'm sure Kairi doesn't like me that way."

Roxas blew through his tuba, which caused it to make a weird noise. "Yeah right!"

Sora checked his trumpet valves and then went over to the music stands. Roxas followed him, still dragging around his tuba.

"Just give it a shot. For me," Roxas pointed to himself.

Sora shook his head. "No."

"You know, maybe you're right. How could Kairi like a guy like you anyway?" Roxas asked.

"What do you mean?" Sora said, turning around. His eyes starred daggers at his blond friend.

Roxas threw up both hands and then caught his tuba before it hit the ground. "I'm just _saying_ that you're probably right. Kairi wouldn't like you because you are such a COWARD."

Sora grabbed a music stand and gripped it like a vice. "I am not a coward."

"Are to. Won't even ask out a girl! What's so scary about a girl anyway?" Roxas crossed his arms in front of his chest challengingly.

Sora thought back to the morning with Selphie. "Everything."

Wakka walked up to them with drumsticks in hand. "Hey, what's happening, mon?"

"We were just discussing how much of a coward Sora is for not asking Kairi to homecoming," Roxas said.

Sora waved them off with his free hand. "Please. I would do it, I just don't want to ruin our relationship."

"C-H-I-C-K-E-N!" Roxas said while bouncing up and down.

"What are you a cheerleader?" Sora spat irritably.

Wakka laughed. "Mon, you gotta ask her. She looked hott last year in her homecoming dress. Think of how cool you'd look with her, ya?"

"Yeah, the mayor's daughter on Sora's arm!" Roxas burst out laughing. "Actually, never mind, she's _way_ out of your league."

Sora frowned. He went over to his chair. Through the rest of the class he couldn't stop thinking about Kairi. He sat two rows behind her, which made it easier to stare at her. He wanted to talk to her about that stuff, but he truly liked the way they were now, just really close friends – _really _close friends…

Sora's next class was history. History was his favorite class. He liked learning about all the wars that happened in the past on Destiny Islands and the surrounding islands. His teacher was Mrs. Anthrop, or so it said on the schedule.

When he entered the class the first person he saw was Patience Lyndenburg. She was sitting at a desk in the back corner, fretfully tucking her hair behind one of her pale ears.

Without thinking, he took the seat right next to her. She stopped what she was doing, but did not look at him.

Sora grew impatient. He turned to her and lifted his hand in a sort of wave. "Hi, I'm Sora."

She turned toward him and made eye contact – for about a second. "Hi."

"What's your name?" Sora asked her tolerantly.

"Oh, right. Uh – my name is Patience," she said, laughing a bit and then clearing her throat in a way that suggested she was uncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you. Where are you from?" Sora asked, again trying to attempt conversation. He wanted to make her more relaxed, she was extremely tense.

"Um – well, from the Dusk Islands," she messed with her hair again and continued. "There's a war going on."

"Oh, so you came here to escape it?" Sora asked soothingly.

She nodded. "Yeah – sorry, I should have told you that in the beginning."

Sora laughed. "You're really nervous aren't you?"

Patience smiled and let forth such a heavy sigh; Sora wondered how long she had been keeping it in. "Yeah, how'd you guess?"

The class started and Sora would glance over at Patience every once in a while to see what she was doing. Usually she would be staring like a frightened puppy at the teacher as she talked.

When the class ended, Sora said goodbye to Patience and went on to gym.

Riku was in this class. Tidus was too.

The first day of gym class, the teacher had them play soccer. Riku, Sora, and Tidus all managed to get on the same team as the instructor counted them off for three separate teams. As they played, their team annihilated the competition. Riku, Tidus, and Sora were what everyone called "the dynamic trio". By the end of the class, their team had beaten the other two teams twice by a thirty or more score difference.

Sora's fourth period was biology. None of his friends were in there, but Axel was, and he was sitting by a girl in an all white dress. He tried to avoid making eye contact with the read headed bully.

Fifth period was split into four sections. For Sora, he got one section of free time first, then a thirty-minute lunch break, and then the actual class period, which took up two sections, or about an hour. However, Selphie took up all his free time talking about nonsense.

When the time came to go downstairs, Sora almost cried with relief. Selphie walked down with him to the lunchroom.

"I wonder who's all in second lunch," Selphie observed the boys lining up for food. "Oh look! There's Tidus! Kairi and Riku are in our lunch too! That's awesome!"

Sora watched Selphie run over to Tidus and drag him to the back of the line where he was.

"Come stand with us, Tidus!" Selphie said sweetly, while clenching his arm tight so he could not escape.

"Do I have a choice?" He sighed and acknowledged Sora with a nod. "That was some wicked soccer we played today. We kicked butt!"

"Yeah, I know. Maybe we should try out for next year's team," Sora suggested.

"Hah! Yeah right. Coach Phillips would squash us like we were maggots," he made a face that looked like he just ate something sour. "And besides, that Axel dude is in to the whole soccer thing."

"I bet he's a real hot head out there on the field," Selphie whispered.

"Yeah," Sora looked down the hallway and saw the group Axel led coming their way.

"Great," Tidus turned away from them.

"Well if it isn't our little hero from earlier. Where's your girlfriend, tough guy," Axel taunted.

Selphie whirled on him. "What girlfriend? He has a girlfriend?"

Axel was taken by surprise for an instant but recovered instantly. "Yeah, that sexy little red head he was with earlier."

Selphie turned to Sora.

Sora flushed deep red. "No, Selphie, I didn't ask her out. Their just stupid."

"What did you say?" Axel said, coming up and getting in his face.

Sora didn't back down. Tidus stepped to his side.

"I said," Sora growled. "You're just _stupid_."

The brunette who had spoken earlier to Sora came up beside Axel. "Little sophomores thinking you can force us juniors to do what you want?" He pushed Tidus with his fingertips. "I'm thinking you need a reality check."

"Hey! Don't touch him!" Selphie hissed, shoving the boy away from Tidus.

Axel cracked up. "Demyx, dude, are you going to let a _girl _push you around?"

The boy stood and grabbed Selphie's arms. She squeaked with terror. "You're cute, but not that cute. Don't mess with me or I'll mess up that pretty face of yours."

Tidus grabbed Demyx and pinned him up against the opposite wall. "Don't you _ever_ touch her!"

Axel came over and pulled Tidus off of Demyx. Sora came flying in, punching Axel square in the jaw. Then all chaos broke loose.

The rest of the gang joined Demyx and Axel, while Sora and Tidus were left to defend themselves. Selphie tried desperately to pull a guy off of Tidus, but they were completely outnumbered.

Then Riku joined them and took on three guys at once, knocking them all off their feet, but sheer numbers managed to get them all down for the count until teachers came running to their rescue.

Busted up and bloody, Riku, Sora, and Tidus were shipped off to the office along with Axel's gang. Selphie came along too, she managed to get a small cut below her eye from where on of the zippers from the long black coats scratched her face.

In the office, they had to report in. Sora watched as Axel's gang came in and gave their names. He was also surprised to see a girl about his age come in. She was the one that had been sitting next to Axel in biology. Was she with this gang?

Some of the organization members had their hoods up, but the principle personally took them off for them. Sora watched and was amazed, yet again, to see a girl appear from under one of the hoods.

He listened to them as they said their names:

Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saïx, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene (the girl). The girl dressed in white was named Naminé.

Sora looked at Naminé's face. She looked tired, even weary. He wondered why such a pretty girl like her would hang out with this rough looking gang. Then something snapped in him.

There were only twelve of the ones dressed in black.

Who was the thirteenth one?

**XxX End Of Chapter One XxX**


	3. Escape

**A Heart Renewed**

**By: CrimsonCrome**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts but I do own Patience Lyndenburg and also my made up ideas._**

_A/N: Now for Cloud's side of the story…_

Chapter Two

It was nearly sunrise. The lake glistened against the morning glow, setting the water on fire. A lone figure stood, waist deep, in the gentle waves.

In his hand was a single crimson rose. He held it lightly, barely wrapping his fingers around the thorns and the stem. The petals moved with the soft breeze. The figure brought the flower to his lips and let his tears soak it. Then, with one slow movement, he set the flower on top of the water and watched it float on the waves.

His face hardening, Cloud left the lake and entered the wood surrounding it. His motorcycle was waiting for him between two trees. He started the engine and listened to the powerful machine roar to life. The vibrations sent chills through his skin as he started to regain his composer.

He could feel again.

Cloud straddled his bike and hit the accelerator. The trees whipped past, unnoticed, unidentifiable. The sun was peaking over the horizon behind him now. He could feel the warmth on his black cloak. The wind whipped through his hair and toyed with his sleeve.

The city came into view and the forest abruptly ended. Rock cliffs rose beside him, towering over him and his vehicle. Dust flew in a straight line behind him. The sun brought on its full intensity. Cloud clenched his hands around the handlebars, the motorcycle shot forward.

Before entering the city, the rock cliffs gave way to a vast expanse of open land, banned of any vegetation, mostly dust. Cloud looked on steadily at the remains of small houses. Broken fences, loose livestock, and beggars all greeted him as he entered the city. He zipped past smoking buildings, potholes, and looters. There was a giant fountain in the middle of the town square; its broken pieces lay in the water along with several floating bodies. A small child was screaming for his mother. Cloud turned his head away and zoomed through a shouting crowd of people.

When he finally arrived at the building he had been heading toward, he wasn't surprised to see the door to his apartment hanging open. He ran inside and found his things scattered all over the floor. Frustrated, he went to the back of the apartment to his bedroom.

"Tifa?" There was a loud shuffling from inside and then a crash. The door opened a crack and two red eyes peered from within the room.

"Cloud?"

"What happened?" Cloud asked as she opened the door to let him in.

"Looters. For some _stupid_ reason I left the door unlocked. They were in here almost before I could get the bedroom door closed. One of them had a knife," Tifa shook her head.

Cloud went back into the other room. "It looks like all they wanted was food. They left everything else, it seems. I think they just tossed it around a bit."

Tifa stood beside him and grabbed his arm. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"I can handle looters," Cloud said reassuringly.

"But what if it was Sephiroth?" Tifa whispered with a strong sense of dread.

Cloud gave her a warning glance and broke from her grasp. He began to pick up the things on the floor. Tifa helped him.

"When will we be able to leave?" Tifa asked Cloud as she replaced a jar into a cupboard.

Cloud shut and locked the front door. Then he turned and looked at her. "Soon. Cid went to find fuel. Yuffie said they found some in the air hanger, but they'd have to sneak it out."

"We should take others with us," Tifa suggested.

"Why? So they can terrorize Destiny Islands? These people in this city have gone mad. There's no order and they will not likely go back to order. We'd be bringing a plague upon the peaceful citizens of Vision Shores," He shook his head. "No, it must only be us and no one else."

"But there are children here, Cloud. They're dying of malnutrition and they have no one to look after them," Tifa was crying now. "What about the children?"

"They have the disease, Tifa. If we took them to Destiny Islands, they'd spread it to the other children. We'd wipe out an entire generation!" Cloud went to her and put a hand on each of her shaking shoulders. "I want to help them too, but we can't. They have to survive, if they can, on _this_ island."

The brunette stepped inward and cried in Cloud's arms. They stood there like that for half an hour until a knock came at their door. Tifa stepped back and looked through the peephole to the outside. Cloud unsheathed his sword.

"It's okay, it's just Yuffie," Tifa opened the door to the black haired ninja.

"We need to go. Another attack is coming and Cid has just enough fuel to get us off the coast of Foretelling Isle. We have to be quick before the airships get to the hanger!" Yuffie said while waving her arms in alarm.

Cloud walked past Tifa and Yuffie and boarded his motorcycle. "Let's go."

Tifa grabbed a few things and then ran out the door with Yuffie. She got onto Cloud's bike and Yuffie got on her own motorcycle.

"Let's go," Yuffie shouted over the roar of the engines. Then they were off, past beggars and diseased children, mobs and looters. Cloud kept his sword ready at his side. Yuffie pulled forth her oversized shuriken as they raced across the paved roads to the outskirts of the city.

This time, they were heading north, toward the airship hanger. The alarms in the city sounded and people scattered like roaches. Cloud barely avoided hitting a confused child as he raced past the people to the dusty outskirts.

There was a loud blast from a cannon several miles away.

"They may already be there!" Yuffie screamed in frustration over the noise.

Tifa clenched her fists.

They continued on toward the hanger. More cannon blasts, nearly deafening. Yuffie put in earplugs, Cloud and Tifa followed suit. The earth shook with each new blast. Through the summer haze they saw the oncoming airship hanger. Several airborne ships were exchanging cannon blasts. One small ship came crashing down several yards to the left of Cloud's bike.

"Look! There's Cid's ship! He's got the gangplank open! We'll have to jump in!" Yuffie shouted. They saw a massive airship coming toward them, dodging the cannons of the battling ones around it.

"Is there a ramp anywhere?" Tifa shouted back to her.

Yuffie pointed to the takeoff strip. There was a luggage truck there. It had a cargo belt aiming upward. "Could we use that?"

Tifa looked to Cloud who shook his head yes. They zipped toward it, Cid's airship coming up fast. Cloud was first to the ramp and he hit the accelerator as hard as he could. The bike wrenched violently upward and Cloud and Tifa soared through the open air to the garage in Cid's ship. Cloud steadied his vehicle as best he could then managed to land on the gangplank. He hit the gas and wiped out on the floor.

Yuffie followed him but turned at a weird angle in the air. She landed funny on the gangplank and her motorcycle began to slide out from under her. She tried to scream in terror but nothing came from her mouth. The bike slid off the gangplank and Yuffie grabbed hold of the retractable bars attached to the sides of the gangway.

Cloud, who had helped Tifa up from their rough landing, finally saw Yuffie holding on for her dear life. He ran to the gangplank, anchored himself against a protruding beam in the ship, and then extended his hand. Yuffie reached for it but couldn't grab hold. She slid off her headband and threw it desperately upward. Cloud managed to grab the loop where her head was before the wind could hungrily snatch it away. He pulled her upward and the threads began to break.

Tifa saw the predicament and ran to aid Cloud. She grasped hold of the beam and then grabbed Yuffie's arm, hauling her upward.

Cloud hit a button on the wall and the gangplank began to close. Yuffie lay of the floor.

"I can't feel my leg," she said, winded.

Tifa knelt beside her and looked at Yuffie's swollen leg. "Maybe you broke it?"

"My motorcycle pinned it against the gangplank and it snapped it before tumbling off," Yuffie said desperately, looking to Cloud.

The blond knelt beside the ninja and picked her up. He held her in his arms, carefully so as not to upset her leg, and began to ascend the stairs to the cockpit. Tifa followed behind.

Cid was awaiting their arrival. He had a toothpick protruding from his lips and his hands on the control board. He managed to dodge another cannon. "Let's get out of here." He raised his hand and then slammed it down on a button that said _Acceleration Thrusters_. The ship shot forward and away from the battleground of airships. They all watched in silence for a moment as the powerful ship rocketed past the broken city and across the dusty outskirts to the seashores. When they were a few good miles over the water, Cid hit another button and the ship slowed.

"Cid, we think Yuffie broke her leg on her way into the ship," Tifa said sympathetically.

The blond pilot put both hands on his hips and frowned. "Well whaddya do that for, kid?"

"You didn't exactly make it easy to get in here," Yuffie snarled. "I lost my bike thanks to you."

"You should be thanking me that you didn't blow to bits," Cid said warningly. He went over to a wall and pressed on it. A small square receded into the wall above it and a compartment appeared. Cid grabbed a white box and went back over to Yuffie. Cloud placed her gently on the cockpit floor and Cid went to work on setting her leg with the materials he had.

Tifa went over to the digital map on the control board and watched the blinking marker head toward a thing outlined in red. "Is that Foretelling Isle?"

"Yeah, it's still a good day away though," Cid said while clenching his toothpick with is teeth. "Better find yah a cabin and settle in for the night."

Cloud walked down the hallway to the cabins and pressed a button for the door he was in front of. It opened. He entered the small cabin and sat down on the bed. And wept.

**XxX**

Nighttime fell on the ocean and the ship racing for land. Tifa was awake, dressed in loose pajamas and some comfy blue slippers she stole from Cid's room while he was piloting the ship. She exited her cabin and went down the hallway to the cockpit and found Yuffie sitting in the captain's seat, flying the ship.

Tifa stared out the cockpit window. The stars were the only source of light for the dark ocean below them. There was nothing else but sheer darkness.

"How are you?" She asked Yuffie, sitting down in a passenger seat beside her.

"I think Cid did a good job of setting my leg. There's no pain yet, just a lot of itching I can't reach because of this confounded tape!" She scratched at the tape around her leg irately.

Tifa gave a small smile. "I hope that it heals fast. At least your safe."

"We still got to get to the island. This thing could run out of fuel if we're not careful. Cid used a lot in our little escape," Yuffie pointed to a meter on the control board showing the fuel levels. "If we crash land this thing, we could be sliced to bits at the speed this thing is going. Then I won't have to worry about broken legs, I won't have any."

Tifa scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Don't talk like that! Focus on the positive."

Yuffie shrugged. "Gotta prepare, y'know?"

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the dark waves pass under them.

"Aren't you tired?" Tifa asked her dark haired friend.

Yuffie shook her head. She produced an energy drink from a cup holder in her seat. "Cid found these on the enemy base. Nice, huh? Keeps me going, nonetheless."

Tifa smiled broadly this time. "Those things will keep you up for days! No wonder you don't even look tired!"

Yuffie groaned. "_Days_?"

Both the girls jumped as a loud bang came from inside one of Cid's compartments. Yuffie gave Tifa a confused look.

Tifa got up and walked over to the compartment the noise seemed to come from. Carefully, she placed her hand on the square and it began to open. She was surprised to see someone staring back at her from the inside. Tifa screamed.

Yuffie looked over her shoulder, helplessly watching the events unfold. "What is it, Tifa?"

The figure inside the compartment grunted and then squeezed out of the hole. It was barely big enough for him. He got out and grabbed Tifa by the shoulders. "Quiet."

She closed her mouth and stared in terror at the muscular being in front of her. "Who are you?"

The man blinked. He had shoulder length, brown hair and dark blue eyes. He had a scar that ran from his forehead to under his right eye. He was tall and had a gunblade attached to his back. He wore a small black jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, long black pants, and several belts. He also wore black gloves; similar to the ones Cloud wore. "The name's Leon."

Yuffie tried to swing her chair around. "What are you doing on our ship? How dare you!"

Leon smirked. "Tough talk for a girl with a broken leg. I had to get away from that island, and this ship was my only chance."

"You could have asked us first!" Yuffie spat irritably.

"Would you have taken me?" Leon challenged her.

Yuffie sniffed. "NO."

Tifa backed away from him. "You scared us."

"Sorry," the stowaway seated himself next to Yuffie. "Maybe you can keep me a secret from your captain, so I don't get in the way."

"Fat chance," Yuffie hissed.

Leon leaned close to her, his mouth inches from hers. "I think you will."

Yuffie pushed him backward as hard as she could, sending him flying. "Don't try to be seductive you moron. You're not _that_ cute."

Tifa couldn't help but laugh at Leon's sprawled form. "Wow, you pulled that on the wrong girl."

He sighed. "You're telling me."

Yuffie crossed her arms over her chest. "That's what you get," she pushed a call button. "Cid? We need you in the cockpit."

A raspy voice crackled over the intercom. "You want me to get up at two in the morning? This better be _insanely_ important, kid."

Leon stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. His muscles bulged from beneath his jacket sleeves. "Tattle tale."

"Two year old," Yuffie shot back.

A few minutes later, Cid entered the cockpit. "What's the –" he stopped himself when he saw Leon. "Who the heck are you and what are you doing on my ship?" Cid's face turned a dark red as he screamed at the boy.

Leon tossed his bangs from his eyes. "The name's Leon. And I stowed away on your ship if you haven't already guessed old man."

"DON'T CALL ME OLD!" Cid walked over to him. He pointed a finger at Leon and poked him hard in the chest. "I HAVE NO PROBLEM THROWING YOU OVERBOARD!"

"Don't touch me, old man, you're without a weapon and I could slice you in half with my gunblade," Leon growled.

Tifa stood behind Cid. "Try it and I'll snap your neck."

Leon laughed. "You? Yeah right."

Yuffie pulled out her oversized shuriken. "Don't get any ideas. You're at _our_ mercy."

Cid smirked. "They may be girls, but they can bring the hurt, tough guy."

"All I want is to get to Destiny Islands," Leon said nonchalantly, like there wasn't any tension in the air.

"And why should I provide you passage?" Cid asked bitterly.

Leon walked back over to the compartment he had fallen out of and pulled forth a large haversack. "Because I have food."

Yuffie's mouth watered, Tifa took a step toward Leon, and Cid cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"All of it is my payment," Leon grumbled. "Now that I'm caught."

Cid wiped some drool from his mouth and stood up straight. "Well, I am a generous man, no doubt. So hand over the food, kid!" He grabbed the haversack and pulled out the good bread and cheese inside it. He tossed some to Tifa and Yuffie. They stuffed their faces hungrily.

Leon sniffed, disgusted. "Where do I room?"

"Doawn –" Cid swallowed. "Down the hall, the very last room on the right."

"Thanks," Leon said sarcastically and headed off down the hallway.

"We have to ration it!" Yuffie warned them. "We can't just eat it all at once!"

"Aw, but its so _good_," Tifa whined.

Cid shook his head, his cheeks bulging with bread. "She's right, gotta ration it." He walked over to a compartment and opened it. Inside were the meager rations they had come up with for the journey: hard carrots, crunchy bread, and some water. He placed the generous portion of bread and cheese beside them and closed the compartment. Then he punched in a combination lock on the outside of the compartment door.

"Nobody gets in here without my permission, got it?" Cid eyed the two girls suspiciously.

"You locked it," Yuffie pointed out, annoyed.

"I'm not stupid. You're a thief, Yuffie, you could probably crack this code," Cid said angrily.

"Your birthday," she said smartly.

Cid opened his mouth in surprise and then changed the combination while hiding it with his back. "Don't try and guess anymore. I put an alarm on it!"

Tifa watched the captain leave and then sat down beside Yuffie. "He was cute, wasn't he?"

"_Cid?_" Yuffie asked in surprise.

"No! Not Cid, Leon!" Tifa waved her hands for emphasis.

Yuffie chuckled. "No. He got you under his spell, didn't he."

Tifa crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No! I just liked his muscles."

"Admit it, you were going to hide him," Yuffie smiled knowingly.

"No– okay maybe," Tifa shrugged.

Yuffie shook her head and turned back to the control board. "Oh, look at the fuel levels!"

Tifa looked at the fuel quantity gauge and found it below normal. "Are we going to make it to Foretelling Isle?"

Yuffie shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe you should get some sleep. You'll want to be alert in case something goes wrong tomorrow."

Tifa stood and ran a hand through her dark brown hair. She adjusted Cid's blue slippers (which he had failed to notice were missing) and went down the hallway to her cabin. She looked to the last room on the right and saw that the door was slightly open. Curious, she went down the hall and peeked inside.

Inside Leon was standing in the middle of the room. He had taken off his jacket and was now taking off his white t-shirt. He was facing the other way, so he did not see Tifa. When the shirt was off, Tifa saw that his muscular back was covered in seeping scratches and wounds. He groaned and sat down on the bed.

Tifa accidentally leaned on the door and it made a sound. She straightened up but Leon was there before she could move. He pinned her against the hallway wall. "Come to poison me in my sleep?" His face was totally serious.

"I can help you with those wounds," she whispered, unsure of what to say.

Leon looked her in the eyes and then let go of her, walking back in the room. She followed. He turned and shut the door behind her, locking it. Tifa gulped.

"Well," he pointed to his back.

Tifa went into the bathroom and got out a cloth. She turned on the cold water and soaked the washrag. After ringing it out, she went back to Leon. "Lay down on the bed," she said softly.

Leon gave her an untrusting look.

"Do you want help or not?" Tifa asked, impatiently.

Leon stared at her a moment longer, then laid down on the bed so that his back was facing upward. Tifa came over and gently placed the cold washrag on his back. He jumped.

"Easy," she said. She wiped the rag over the wounds, being careful just to wash away the mess. She went back into the bathroom and found a roll of gauze and some athletic tape behind the mirror. Obviously Cid had used this when he had had the accident with the engine a year ago. Tifa went back to Leon. She made him stand and began to wrap the gauze around his torso. When she was finished, she went to the door and began to unlock it.

Leon went to her and stopped. Tifa could tell he felt awkward.

"Thank you," he said in a tone that suggested he'd never said it before.

Tifa nodded and left the room. She went back down the hallway but stopped when she saw Cloud's light was on and his door was slightly open also. She looked inside.

He was holding up a picture. Tifa recognized the woman as Aerith. She watched Cloud set the picture down and hold his head in his hands. Her heart sank as she heard heavy sobs coming from his shaking body. She left him be and went to her own room.

**XxX**

The next morning, Cloud woke to the sound of a scream. He ran out into the hallway, dressed in only his boxers and saw Tifa laughing at a man with shoulder length brown hair. He ran back into his room, got dressed, and then walked back out to see who the guy was.

He approached the two, Tifa was laughing.

"What's going on?" Cloud asked, confused. "Who screamed?"

Tifa choked a bit over her giggles and then explained. "Leon scared me. Oh, Cloud this is Leon. He stowed away on our ship, but he paid us with food so Cid let him stay on board."

Cloud looked at the muscular man suspiciously. "How do we know he's not one of them?"

Tifa stared wide-eyed at Cloud. "Uh –"

"Show me the palm of your hand," Cloud demanded.

Leon didn't do as he was asked. "Why do you want to see it?"

"The mark of the enemy is embedded in the skin on the palm. Now show it to me or I'll kill you," Cloud said warningly.

"You couldn't take me," Leon countered. He showed Cloud his palm. "Satisfied."

Cloud inspected Leon's palm, it was normal. He didn't say anything, just stared into Leon's eyes, trying to figure out how to handle him. He walked to the cockpit.

Tifa shrugged her shoulders. "Cloud is a great guy, you'll like him."

"Yeah right," Leon said sarcastically.

Yuffie entered the hallway and beckoned them to the cockpit. "Cid's about to open the food compartment! It's breakfast time, guys!"

They all went into the cockpit and saw Cid with a tray of food. "Here, eat up."

They all grabbed something to munch on when the control board began to flash red and a siren went off.

"Crap!" Cid ran over to the control board and looked at the fuel level. "I'm going to have to kick on the backup engine. We're not going to make it to the island!"

Yuffie pointed out the window. "Look! I can see the edge of the island!"

"We still got a ways to go! Fasten your seatbelts kiddies! We're turning big bertha on!" Cid punched the button that said _Back Up Engine_ and the ship shook violently and then sped forward again.

Leon dropped his carrot.

"Are we going to make it?" Yuffie shouted over the noise of the back up thrusters, which were nearer to the cockpit.

Cid looked at her wildly. "I don't know. We ain't got much fuel left to go on. Crap. We just ran out."

The ship shook violently and started to plummet toward the waves. The shores of Foretelling Isle were coming on fast, but not fast enough. Tifa screamed and Cid grunted as the ship hit the waves of the ocean and bounced back in the air. Then the ship hit dry land and skidded over several palm trees. The ship creaked and metal could be heard breaking off. Yuffie gritted her teeth. Then the ship stopped.

"Is everybody in one piece?" Cid shouted over the dying engines.

"Yeah," Leon grumbled.

A thumbs up from Yuffie, a nod from Cloud, and a weary smile from Tifa. Satisfied, Cid opened the roof hatch to the cockpit and climbed out.

"Oh crap! My ship's a wreck!" Cid kicked a beam on the roof and then yelled in pain.

Leon shook his head. "Did he think it would look nice after that crash landing?"

Cloud didn't answer him, rather got out of his seatbelt and joined Cid on the roof. Foretelling Isle was swarming with gnats, mosquitoes, and other daytime bugs. Cloud looked at the broken palm trees, only a few in the dense forest they had landed in. The ocean was sparkling red against the morning sun. He looked down at the curious faces below him, staring upward. He hoisted up Yuffie and Tifa and watched Leon struggle to climb out of the hatch. The hot sun warmed their skin.

"Okay, Cid. Which way to Vision Shores?" Yuffie asked.

Cid shook his head. "The digital map was broken in the accident. We're going to have to search for the bridge ourselves."

"Cloud it be on the other side of those mountains?" Leon asked, pointing in the distance to mountains in the middle of the island.

"That's a long trek," Tifa said in an exhausted voice.

"Well, I ain't got the parts to fix my ship so we gotta get walking," Cid said, annoyed.

Cloud got back down in the ship and began to pack up the stuff he would need for the trek across the island. He rolled up his sheets and blankets and placed the picture of Aerith inside his pillowcase. He grabbed his sword and got back on the roof. Tifa was the next to appear, followed by Leon and then Yuffie. Cloud noticed Leon's gunblade and gripped his own sword a little tighter.

Cid sighed. "Well, let's get going then."

**XxX End Chapter Two XxX**

**Thank you to my kind reviewers, Raine Ishida and Silver Pheonix-Dragon**


	4. Soda Pop

**A Heart Renewed**

**By: CrimsonCrome**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or SquareSoft/SquareEnix. I do own Patience Lyndenburg, Yuki's Deli (the one in my story) and any other made up ideas/original characters. Thanks. Oh, and if Green Lighting is a soda, I don't own that either._**

_A/N: So did you like the whole last chapter? Different, huh? Please note that when I say football, I mean the American version. We call the European version soccer, here in the U.S._

_Warning: Religious material! Ooh! Scary! LOL! No, but please do not be offended, all of it is nice and from a First Church of Christ Christian point of view. Also, there is an alcohol reference._

Chapter Three

"So you were the one that picked the fight?" The principle asked him.

"I called him stupid," Sora confessed.

The principle shook his head. "Sora, I know you are a good boy, what made you act this way?"

The brunette shrugged. "They were disrespecting Kairi. I couldn't just stand there and let them badmouth her. They were being stupid, so I called them that."

The principle shook his head. "It's the first day of school Sora and I have to give you a detention! Well, you better get to lunch." The principle sighed and waved him away. Sora stood and headed down the hallway where Riku, Selphie, and Tidus were waiting for him. Tidus had a black eye.

"Sorry guys," Sora apologized. "I got you guys into this mess."

"Nobody asked us to help you, we did it on our own free will," Riku stated flatly. "No need for unnecessary apologies."

Tidus laughed. "C'mon man, battle scars! How awesome is that!"

Sora laughed.

The lunchroom was nearly empty, but Kairi had waited on them to return. "Oh! You guys, I bought you lunches so you wouldn't have to stand in line!" She handed them the food and they sat down and ate at a table, Kairi stayed with them.

"Thanks, Kairi," Riku said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled fondly at him. "Your welcome."

Sora scowled.

"Thank you for standing up for me, Tidus," Selphie said, scooting closer to him.

Tidus scooted away from her. "Don't mention it again."

Selphie frowned and finished her lunch.

The bell rang for second lunch to get out. The boys ate faster, but Selphie was already finished. Kairi helped them throw away their leftovers.

"Let's get to class," she said.

Sora looked at her, ready to strike up a conversation. "So what –"

"What do you have fifth period, Kairi?" Riku asked, cutting Sora off.

"French 2," Kairi said. "If I learn French, I'll know, Russian, English, and Japanese!"

Sora laughed. "I'm in computer class during fifth period. But I didn't get to surf the web because _Selphie_ talked my ear off."

Selphie shrugged. "Sorry."

Nearly everyone turned to her.

Riku was the first to bring out the sarcastic remark everyone was thinking. "_Sorry_? Since when do you say you're sorry?"

Selphie shook her head and Sora thought he saw a tear in her eye. Kairi walked beside her.

"Why don't you guys go on ahead, see you later at the deli," Kairi waved.

Sora, Tidus, and Riku walked on as Kairi talked to Selphie.

"We should spy on them," Tidus said nastily.

"No," Riku kept walking. "We're probably late already. Besides, girls are all _emotional_ and that I can't stand."

Sora shook his head. "That's really mean, Riku."

"Your point?" Riku said, turning around and frowning at Sora.

They kept walking, each branching off to their own classroom.

The rest of the day, Sora couldn't help but think about Selphie. Did he offend her when he said she talked his ear off? He was only joking, anyway. Why was she acting the way she did? Why did any girl act the way they did? His last two classes were Algebra 2 and English. None of his friends were in his math class, but Selphie, Roxas, Tidus, and Kairi were in his English class.

After the last bell, everyone exited the school. Sora walked beside Kairi and Riku.

"So, are we going to Yuki's deli?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, grab us some sodas before we go to youth group," Kairi smiled.

Sora felt around in his pockets. "Crud, I left all my money at home. Oh well, I'll just go with you guys."

Riku and Kairi exchanged looks.

When they got to Yuki's deli, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, and Roxas were waiting for them. Selphie looked pale and almost sick.

Kairi began to talk to her and the guys got a booth. Sora noticed Selphie was pointing at Tidus a lot, but the blond boy didn't even notice.

"So are we just getting sodas?" Tidus asked. "I'm up for some food."

Roxas shrugged his shoulders. "I'm getting a burger and fries with my soda. I don't know about you guys. I haven't eaten yet."

Selphie and Kairi came over and sat down with the guys.

Wakka put a comforting arm around Selphie's shoulders. "Ya alright, girl?"

Selphie sniffed and nodded. Tidus narrowed his eyes at her and put the menu up so that he couldn't see her.

Kairi sighed and shifted in her seat. She was squished between Selphie and Riku.

Yuki's deli was a place where most of the teenagers on Vision Shores spent their time. Since the small town didn't have a movie theater or bowling alley, the deli shop's arcade games and attached bookstore were the only sources of entertainment. The deli part had about seven booths and four tables. There were plenty of pictures of the family that owned it on the walls. The desk at which you paid displayed in a glass case underneath the cash register all the meat and cheese choices. The arcade games were on the opposite wall from where Sora and his friends were sitting. There were three of them, an alien shooting game, a pinball machine, and a racing game. There was also a jukebox beside them that played some fast techno songs. On Friday nights, the deli owners would push aside the four tables in the middle and create a small dance floor for the high school teenagers to dance on.

Sora looked at the menu and then remembered he had no money and put it down. His stomach grumbled. The waitress came over as Sora was looking at his menu. He heard her gasp and then looked up to see Patience standing there.

Wakka was the first to react. "Hey! What's happening, mon?"

Patience nervously tucked a piece of hair behind a pale ear. "Oh, hello guys. How is everyone?"

The group nodded their hellos and answered her question with their automatic "good".

"May I take your order?" Patience face was bright red.

"You okay?" Tidus asked her, sort of confused.

"Yeah, y-yes, thank you for ask-k-king," she stuttered. Sora could tell she wasn't okay.

Riku waved a hand as if dismissing her actions and spoke his order. "I want the hamburger. Extra pickle. And a soda."

"What kind of soda," she asked; gluing her eyes to the pad of paper she was writing on to take down their orders.

"Uh – Green Lightning," he said, handing her his menu.

She took it quickly and then turned to Kairi. They each gave her their orders, passing their menus to her. When she was finished with them, she began to turn away and dropped all the menus. Sora got up to help her.

"Oh," she said, her face burning. "I'm so clumsy."

"It's okay," Sora said soothingly. "We all make mistakes." He grabbed up three menus, handing them to her. She took them and picked up the rest as fast as she could, then walked away hastily.

"Aw," Kairi said sympathetically. "She's really nervous. Maybe she didn't expect to run into us here. I know I didn't expect to see _her_ here."

Riku laughed. "She's cute, but she's clumsy."

"She's got a nice butt," Tidus said.

Selphie opened her mouth in disgust and Kairi crossed her arms over her chest, but Wakka and Roxas nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's awfully rude," Selphie said bitterly.

Tidus shrugged. "I just speak the truth."

Kairi shook her head.

Sora and Riku exchanged looks.

They began talking about their days at school, the new gang, and of course, Patience. But they stopped when she came back with a tray full of drinks. Her hands were shaking badly. She put them down on the table and everyone watched her in silence, which of course made her more nervous.

When she finally got to Tidus' drink (the last one on the tray) she began to take it off the tray but the edge of the cup caught on the lip of the tray and went flying – all over Sora's lap. He stood up quickly, ice and soda splashing on the ground below him. Kairi gasped and grabbed the napkins. Patience just stood in shocked silence, her forefingers on her temples. The others didn't know how to react as Kairi leaned over and tried to wipe up the mess on Sora's area of the table. Sora took one look at Patience and his heart melted.

She was in tears.

He smiled broadly at her and said loudly for the others to here. "And I thought I wasn't going to get a soda."

The others laughed and Patience giggled a bit through her tears. She bent down to the floor and began mopping up the mess with napkins. Sora stooped to help her.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know why I'm so clumsy, please forgive me. I'll pay for all of their lunches and buy you lunch. I –" Patience stopped when she saw a man towering over her and Sora.

"Patience? What have you done? That's the third time this week! Look, I can't have anymore angry customers and you're wasting our soda! When your finished serving them, I need to talk to you privately in my office," the man's belly fat jiggled as he waved his arms around for more emphasis on his words.

Sora stood upright. "Sir, it was an accident, and I'm not mad."

The man closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose with his fingers. "Look, it would be okay if it were the first time, but three times? She's not going to have a paycheck by the time this is over with. I just can't have this going on in a respectable restaurant. You know what Patience," the man opened his eyes and clenched his fists. "I'm done. Just leave. You're fired."

Patience stood and silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She carefully undid her nametag, gasping as the clip pinched her skin. She put it on the counter along with her apron and pad of paper. Then she slowly, slowly, shuffled out the door.

Sora turned and faced the man. "Well that was pretty ridiculous. Can't you cut the girl some slack?" Without waiting for a response, Sora took off after Patience.

Kairi and the rest followed him outside, completely forgetting their food, to see Patience standing in the middle of the parking lot, shaking. Her sobs were soft, but heavy. Sora went over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped.

"Thank you for standing up for me, you didn't have to do that. Especially since I spilled soda all over you. I'm so s-s-s-sorry," she covered her face, trying to conceal herself from him.

He took her hands and moved them away from her face. She had mascara running down her pale cheeks and Sora was a little frightened by her piercing green eyes.

"Look, I'm not mad. There are other places to work here on Vision Shores. I could help you find a job if you want," Sora suggested, trying desperately to make her stop crying. He wasn't sure how to handle it. He pulled at his wet clothing, listening to the squishy suction sound it made when coming off his chest.

Kairi came over and placed a hand on Patience's shoulder. "Why don't you come to youth group with us tonight? You could spend the night with Selphie and me! It would be so much fun! I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind, she's very understanding."

Patience smiled, but in a sad way. "Thank you, but I don't want to be a burden. I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but –"

Kairi stopped her. "Oh please! You wouldn't be a burden. Come on, if you don't come I'll be really upset." Kairi gave her puppy dog eyes and Patience full out laughed.

Sora smiled again. "Good work Kairi! You made her laugh!"

Riku came over and stared at Patience, then looked to Kairi. "I'm going to the church with the guys. We'll see you there." He took another look at Patience and then turned his back and walked away.

"Um… okay, I will come, I guess. I don't want to be in the way. I know I'm clumsy. I'll do my best not to move much," Patience turned bright red when Kairi laughed.

"It's alright, you're so nervous! Just relax! Sora and I won't bite!" Kairi giggled.

"Speak for yourself!" Sora said, as he pretended like he was going to bit Kairi's shoulder.

"Eek! Stop!" She pushed him away and then giggled some more. Patience gave another smile.

"Thank you for your kindness," Patience whispered.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"I said, thank you for –"

Sora shivered. "Okay, I'm cold now." The sun was setting and a strong, chilly wind had picked up. Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, and Roxas had all left with Riku earlier, so the Sora, Kairi, and Patience all decided to go home and get ready for youth group.

When Sora arrived at the church at the edge of Vision Shores, the youth pastor, Garrett, was waiting for him outside the door.

"Hey Sora, I heard Kairi invited someone new to youth group. Who is it?" Garrett questioned him excitedly.

"Oh," Sora ran a hand through his hair. "Her name is Patience Lyndenburg. I think she's a refugee from the Dusk Islands. She's kind of clumsy and she's really nervous, but I think you'll like her."

Garrett smiled. "Why is she nervous? Is she shy or something? We can break her of that!"

"Ooh – just be gentle," Sora warned. "She was fired from her job today because she accidentally spilled soda all over me, so I'd try not to be overly cheerful around her."

Garrett nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Might turn her off if I do. Okay, I got an idea. Why don't we introduce ourselves to her, but not make her say anything about herself, so we don't put her on the spot. Then, when we do our game for tonight, I'll tweak it so that we can learn more about her without it being uncomfortable."

"What's the game?" Sora asked curiously.

Garrett tapped his nose and smiled. "I'm not telling!"

Sora frowned. "Aw, why not? That's not fair!"

Garrett winked. "You'll see what it is soon enough! Now go on inside and I'll wait for Kairi to show up with Patience."

Sora did as he was told and saw his friends sprawled out on the couches in their meeting room. Selphie was sitting upright and stone faced on one of the comfy chairs, making eye contact with no one. Sora seated himself on one of the couches beside Roxas.

"Is Patience coming?" Wakka asked.

"Yeah, isn't that great?" Sora asked.

The room fell silent. Riku sniffed.

"Well _I_ think it's great, Sora," Selphie said reassuringly. "She's a nice girl."

"But she's clumsy!" Riku said nastily. "She's way too skinny, her eyes are freaky, she can't talk, she can't hold anything, and she's just weird! Maybe she got the disease from the Dusk Islands. That would explain her actions."

"No it wouldn't," Wakka countered. "Do you even know what that disease does? It turns your insides into mush. It's like the Ebola virus, except slower and more painful. Plus it makes you have seizures every once in a while until you die."

Selphie had her hand over her open mouth, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Oh that is horrible!"

"Yeah, all the children over at the Dusk Islands have it!" Tidus shouted.

Selphie's face went pale. "_All_ of them?"

"No," Sora said quickly. "Not all of them, mainly the ones in the city on the south shores. They haven't found a cure yet, but they're close. They can even treat it now, I'm told. I think the disease is called t –"

Garrett opened the door with a loud crash. "Riku, I need to see you outside please."

Kairi was standing outside, her hands on her hips, her eyebrows pointed downward in anger.

"What?" Riku asked, confused.

"Patience heard what you said and _I_ heard what you said about her," Garrett crossed his arms over his chest. "What kind of example are you setting for this girl? This is _not_ how Christians act. I'm very disappointed in you."

"Where is she?" Selphie asked, concern covering her cute features.

Kairi frowned. "She ran off, muttering something about needing to get home. She was _crying_ Riku! I can't believe you! You're so… heartless!" Kairi turned her back to him, making Riku frown.

Sora got up. "Okay, everybody just calm down. Let's just pick her up from her house in the church van. Riku can apologize and then we can do something fun."

Garrett smiled. "Good idea, Sora. Why am I the youth minister? You're the one that has all the good ideas!"

Riku rolled his eyes.

Sora shrugged. "Well, we better get going before things get really bad. Does anyone know where she lives?"

Kairi turned back around and raised a hand, smiling. "Oh! I do! I can show you where she is."

Everyone got up from the couch and headed out toward the church van they used to go to Christian functions and outings. They all piled in and Riku made sure to sit next to Kairi, who turned her head away from him. Garrett got in the drivers seat and started up the car.

"Okay, guys. Let's rock and roll!" Garrett got to the edge of the parking lot, where the road was connected to it and stopped. "Left or right, Kairi?"

"Left," Kairi said, pointing. She gave Garrett directions to her house. The teenagers looked out the windows, recognizing the place. They were in the poor section of Vision Shores, where the houses were run down and older men sat on the porch with blank eyes and a can of beer. No one spoke the whole ride, afraid to lighten the heavy mood, lest they receive no answer and look cold.

Garrett slowed the van as Kairi indicated that Patience's house was on the left. They stopped and Kairi got out. She knocked on the door and Sora saw a lady who looked exactly like Patience (except older) answer. He watched her lips move and her face become angry, then her face softened and Kairi turned around and smiled at the van. Riku got out and went over to the woman. Patience appeared behind her and Sora could tell Riku was apologizing because he spread his hands wide and hung his head a bit. Then Patience stepped out of her house and nodded. Her mother went into the house and then reappeared with some money in her hand. Patience smiled and walked with them back to the van.

Sora squished up against Selphie as Patience squeezed in the back with him. Kairi and Riku took their seats up front with Roxas. Wakka and Tidus got the short middle seat.

Garrett put the van into gear again and began driving down the road. "You know guys, there is a front seat up here."

"Oh," Patience said, obviously just noticing it. "I'm sorry, I should have taken that seat."

Garrett laughed. "That's alright. I bite anyway."

Roxas chuckled and then snorted, which got the whole van in an uproar, breaking the ice.

Patience cleared her throat and then asked the question that had been on her mind since Garrett's comment. "What is it with you people and biting?"

Kairi giggled again. Garrett looked in the rearview mirror in complete confusion. "Huh?"

Riku's stomach growled. "Hey, can we go somewhere to eat. We just left all our food at the deli."

Patience folded and unfolded her hands nervously.

"Yeah," Garrett took a right turn. "Let's go to that new pizza place. I heard they have really good Italian food. I'll tell you what. Supper is on me guys."

Wakka pumped a fist in the air. "Mon, I knew you were my favorite youth group leader."

Garrett laughed. "I'm your _only_ youth group leader, Wakka."

"What's your point? Narrows down your competition, ya?" That brought Wakka a few laughs, mainly from Kairi.

Garrett took another right turn and they were back in the commercial area of town. They passed Yuki's deli and other restaurants and shops, then they came to a pizza joint with a big flashing red sign that read: "_NOW OPEN"_. Garrett pulled into the parking lot and parked the van. Everyone got out, nearly knocking each other over.

Roxas took in a big whiff. "Mmm, smells good!"

Kairi laughed. "You're right, it does! We should pig out since Garrett's got the bill!"

Garrett gave her a that's-so-mean face and the others laughed at his anguish.

Patience offered up her munny. "I have five, if you want it for my meal."

Garrett smiled. "Thanks, but I got you. And order whatever you want guys."

Wakka and Tidus slapped high fives. "Let's get a extra large pizza each!" They said at once, as if they had planned it.

Sora rubbed his belly. "And some pasta, ooh! How about lasagna? Or fettuccini…"

More and more of the kids added in things and watched Garrett's face drop into a worried frown.

When they finally entered the restaurant, Garrett was looking through his wallet and the others were joking about the bill being over a thousand dollars. Patience stayed quiet, but smiled, even though it was uncomfortably. They were seated at an extra large booth and got their menus from the nice waiter.

Sora was looking through the menu when he heard a familiar voice.

"What do you mean you don't have Green Lightning here? Are you crazy? What kind of pizza place is this?" A stream of curses and dishes falling off and breaking on the ground followed.

Sora got up and looked over the edge of the booth to see Axel in the face of a small waitress. She was holding up her hands defensively, and leaning away from him. Garrett stood from the booth and walked over to him. Sora watched, wondering how his youth minister would take on the gang leader.

"Sir," Garrett started calmly.

"Who are you?" Axel spat in his face. "Mind your own business! I'm busy here."

Garrett wiped the spit from his face and tried again. "Sir, please calm down. She's only trying to do her job. It's not her fault they don't serve Green Lighting here."

Axel began to cuss the youth minister out and Garrett stood and waited for the young man to fizzle out. The red head had a lot in him though. The manager and supervisor came to the aid of the waitress and Garrett. They started to warn him, telling him to calm down or get out.

Axel chose to leave, cussing out the men as he went.

The waitress was nearly in tears.

Garrett turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered. She was small with soft brown hair and gentle sky blue eyes. "Thank you for your help."

Garrett, who was six foot, towered over her. "Oh, I don't think I was much help in that situation. But I think it was unnecessary to yell at you for such a trifling thing as not having his favorite soda."

The manager and supervisor each thanked Garrett and apologized for the "inconvenience". Garrett smiled and shook their hands, then sat down at his table.

Kairi shook her head. "Man, he was really mad, wasn't he?"

Garrett shrugged. "Maybe he just had a bad day. No excuse for his actions though. I wonder if I could find him again and suggest he come to youth group."

"NO!" The whole table said, except for Patience.

"Why not?" Garrett asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Tidus held up his hands. "Didn't you _see _the way he was acting? He's crazy and a real jerk! Him and his gang members have already beaten up a football player!"

Garrett shook his head. "All the more reason to get him in our youth group."

Patience fiddled with a strand of hair. "He was very nice to me."

Sora looked at her in awe. "Be careful around him. He's dangerous."

Kairi giggled. "You sound like her father or something, Sora."

Patience looked away.

The door opened to the pizza joint again and Axel reentered.

"Everybody down! I've got a gun!" Axel pulled forth a shiny pistol and people in the restaurant screamed in panic.

Sora and his youth group got down on the floor as Axel came storming over, demanding they "hit the concrete".

Garrett stayed in front of the kids as Axel waved the gun over his head.

Kairi and Selphie were panicking; Patience was in shock. The boys were watching Axel, closely and with wide eyes. Axel grabbed the waitress he had been arguing with earlier and she screamed.

"Shut up! Shut up, you hear me?" Axel put the gun to her head and she whimpered, tears pouring down her face.

Garrett held up his hands. "Hey, let's talk about this. We can do this in a better way. Just put the gun down."

"Shut up or I'll shoot her!" Axel said, pressing the gun harder against the girl's temple. She screamed again.

The manager of the shop looked to him. "What do you want? Please, just don't do something stupid, kid."

"I want all your money," Axel said, his face a deep red from his shouting and ranting.

The supervisor began to get up. "I'm going to get it. Don't shoot."

Axel watched him carefully. "Don't even think about touching that phone."

The supervisor nodded.

"Please," the girl whimpered.

"Shut up!" Axel bellowed. Kairi and Selphie whimpered. Sora gritted his teeth.

"It's going to be okay," Garrett said, addressing the waitress in Axel's grasp.

"I said stop talking to her!" Axel said – and shot the gun at Garrett.

**XxX End Chapter Three XxX**


	5. A Haunting Past

**A Heart Renewed **

**By: CrimsonCrome**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, SquareSoft, or SquareEnix. I do own Patience Lyndenburg, Garrett, and any other OCs/ideas/settings I made up._**

_A/N: Thank you to all my kind reviewers: **treasureplanet-gurl**, **A-Mystery-Indeed**, **Silver Phoenix-Dragon**, **BlindHeart**, and **Raine Ishida**. Also, I am aware that the Kingdom Hearts characters are OUT of character, so please be patient with me. I'm having trouble with Tifa, Riku, and Roxas the most, but I'll do my best to fix it. If it only gets worse, I do apologize._

Chapter Four

"So which way should we go?" Tifa asked Cid, who was finding himself a walking stick. They hadn't left the ship yet; they had wanted to gather up as much food as they could find.

"Well, if I remember right, then we should be able to go around those mountains and find the bridge to Vision Shores on the other side. Or maybe it was a bridge to Fate's Cove– anyway, we better start trekking. Anyone else want a walking stick?" Cid was biting his broken toothpick nervously and waited for an answer, no one spoke.

Yuffie was piggybacking a ride from Cloud, because of her broken leg. He was strong enough to support her and was willing to help his friend.

"Well," Leon said, walking over and sheathing his sword he had been practicing with. "Let's go."

They all began to walk to the northeast, along the shore.

**XxX**

Midday proved to be hot and sticky. The mosquitoes were biting and the sun was beating down on the moving party.

Cloud barely noticed these harsh conditions. He had buried himself in his thoughts.

_Why did she have to die? I swear Sephiroth shall pay! She didn't deserve to die, all she wanted to do was help – all she wanted to do was heal them…_

"Cloud?" The blond boy became aware of his surroundings again. Leon was staring at him with a weird look. "Did you hear me?"

"What? Uh, no," Cloud shook his head.

Leon sighed. "I asked if you wanted to take a break and let me carry Yuffie?"

"And I said _no,"_ Yuffie said angrily. "There's no way I'm getting on _your _back."

Cloud shifted Yuffie so that she was placed more evenly on his own back. "I can handle it."

Leon smirked at Yuffie. "After a while he'll get tired and I'm the only other one that can carry you."

"_Back off,_" Cloud hissed at the stowaway.

Tifa looked back at them in alarm, but Cid didn't turn around. Cloud knew they had both heard him, but he didn't care. Something about this guy wasn't clicking with him and he didn't like it. He would carry Yuffie all the way back to the Dusk Islands through the ocean before he let Leon get his hands on her.

"Easy," Leon said, throwing up his hands in defense. "I was only joking."

"Yeah – well don't," Cloud said in a low, dangerous voice.

**XxX**

Night came after several brutal hours of trudging across the sand. Cid stopped the party below a small group of palm trees and began to set up a fire. Tifa laid out all the beddings for everyone and Yuffie, who was sitting on the sand by Cid, began to make supper. Leon and Cloud watched each other from opposite sides of the campfire.

Tifa came and sat beside Cloud. "The stars are beautiful."

Cloud looked up and saw them, really saw them, for the first time in years. Something tugged at his heartstrings for some reason at that moment, and he let out a heavy sigh.

"What?" Tifa asked him, concerned.

Cloud shook his head. "They are beautiful. It's just, the last time I looked at the stars, it was with Aerith."

Tifa turned her face away. Cloud didn't notice and lay down on the sand. He looked up at the black sky and all the lights twinkling in it. A cool breeze swept over him and he shivered. The night was calm, even the insects were off somewhere else. Cloud took in the moment, wishing desperately that Aerith were there.

Then Tifa lay down beside him.

His heart skipped a beat. She didn't touched him, just joined him at looking at the nighttime display of lights. Cloud didn't know what to do, so he just lay still and listened to her breathing. He didn't even see Cid help Yuffie over to the shore. Leon had disappeared earlier, off training with his gunblade.

"Cloud," Tifa whispered.

He almost felt robbed, like Tifa was taking Aerith away from him, by doing what he had done so long ago with Aerith the night before her death.

"What," he whispered, but there was no bitterness in his voice.

"I miss her," Tifa said.

And it was enough. Cloud no longer felt that Aerith needed to be the only one to share this time with him and he accepted Tifa into his memories. He relaxed. The moon was unusually bright, shining down on Tifa's pale face. Cloud smiled. It felt okay. It felt right.

Then the moment was broken as Leon came over and stood over the two. "Hey, is this walk across creation gonna be rated PG13?"

Tifa sat up. "Pervert."

Cloud sat up as Tifa stood and walked toward the sea.

"Aw," Leon said shaking his head in mock sympathy. "I ruined the moment."

Cloud stood and got in his face, then decided it was not worth it and went over to Tifa. She sighed as he came close enough to her.

"I didn't mean anything beyond friendship, Cloud," Tifa said, trying to reassure him.

Cloud put his hands on her shoulders and faced her. "Thank you."

Tifa smiled sadly and nodded.

**XxX**

The next day they walked and walked. When they finally reached the edge of the dark, looming mountains, Yuffie pointed through a thick grove of palm trees and shouted:

"Look! I see the bridge! And look! There's a town!" Yuffie had been riding on Cloud's back the entire way.

Tifa jumped up and down. "Whoo hoo! Civilization!"

They all walked a little faster, Cid leading the way. Leon was in the back, staring at the back of Yuffie's head, unsatisfied.

Cloud saw the bridge that spanned the vast ocean below, a sickeningly high drop. But the bridge was wide and sturdy, made of iron and steel. When they finally began to cross it, the party's shoes made a clanking sound over the cold metals. Cloud stared straight ahead at the place he had been waiting to see.

The town was lit up against the twilight. The smell of a nearby pizza place made his stomach grumble.

Yuffie tried to retie her ribbon around her head and it snapped in her hands. "Oh man! Stupid head wrap. Now I have to get a new one."

There were people everywhere looking on at the tired and dirty newcomers, a few raised an uncertain hand to opened mouths.

The town itself was sparkling. There were pizza shops, and homes, and street merchants with fruit stands. There was music drifting softly from somewhere in the distance. A mime came up to the tired group and began to walk like them, slumped and frowning.

Leon pulled his blade. "Get lost, loser."

The mime put on a disappointed scowl and put his hands on his hips. They continued onward, leaving the unhappy mime behind to play with a little girl.

Cloud was about to say something about the ridiculous number of pizza places on the island as he walked past one with a "Now Open" sign flashing, when a red headed boy ran out of it, dragging a terrified young woman.

"Out of my way!" He screamed at them, waving a gun.

Leon unsheathed his sword and pointed the gunblade at the boy. The red head stopped.

"Let her go," Leon growled.

Yuffie produced her oversized shuriken and stared at the young woman, who was crying hysterically. "Exactly where are you going with her?"

The red head sniffed and slowly began backing away. "Don't shoot me, or I'll shoot her," he said, whipping the gun to the girl's head. The woman screamed.

Cloud narrowed his eyes and memorized everything about the boy. He noticed a large wad of cash sticking out of the boy's black coat pocket. He had mid length, spiky red hair, green eyes, and tattoos under each of his eyes. His coat was black and he was wearing black boots.

Cid put his hands on his hips. "Hey kid, why don't you just put the gun down and _no one_ will get hurt."

The boy shook his head. "No. The cops are on their way. I'm not stupid. Now just leave me alone and you can all quit trying to play hero."

Cloud gritted his teeth. The boy was backing toward another street. He was going to escape! The woman was crying, begging for them to help her.

"Please, it's not worth it," Tifa pleaded with him.

"Yeah you're right, it's not worth it! I'm not getting stuck in jail!" The boy turned and ran, dragging the woman after him. Leon took off in pursuit. Tifa and Cid followed behind.

"Man. I hate broken legs," Yuffie pouted as she watched them run after the boy.

Cloud looked around desperately for a bench to deposit Yuffie on, but found none. "I need to go after them," he explained to her frantically.

"Oh no, you are _not_ leaving me behind," Yuffie said angrily.

Cloud sighed heavily. But it wasn't long before Leon and the others returned.

"Did you catch him?" Yuffie asked them.

"No," Leon said furiously. "He disappeared! Into a dark kind of – portal! I couldn't believe it!"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, I've never seen anything like it."

Cid shrugged his shoulders. "He let the woman go though. She ran off screaming like a madwoman down some street. Everybody was looking at her like she was crazy!"

Cloud shook his head. He happened to glance over and saw a brunette come from the pizza place. He looked angry. Cloud wondered if it was because of the red head, which seemed like the most logical answer. He looked away and the group headed down the street toward a motel.

When they got there, Leon opened the door and they walked inside. The desk clerk was a sharp looking young woman with wavy brown hair and smart looking glasses.

"How may I help you?" She asked them as they came to the counter.

Cid leaned on the counter and looked her square in the eye. "Look, we need a place to stay, we just came from the Dusk Islands and we barely escaped. We have no money and we haven't got anyone to turn to. Do you think we could work to spend the night here?"

The woman blinked. "We accept credit cards…"

The door behind the counter swung open and a tall man with gray hair and beady black eyes appeared. "What's going on, Frieda?"

The desk clerk turned to him and pointed at the party. "They want to work to stay the night here. They're refugees from the Dusk Islands."

The man turned his attention to them and stared at Cid with his beady black eyes. "Well, I suppose if they haven't got the money to stay here, then we could put 'em to work."

"Thank you, sir," Cid said.

"Don't thank me just yet," the man said with an unkind grin. "You're cleaning toilets."

**XxX**

After four hours of doing work for the motel, including cleaning toilets, Cloud collapsed on his bed. Yuffie smiled at him gratefully from the other bed in the room.

"Thank you so much for covering my work," she said sweetly. "You're the best friend a girl could ever have, Cloud. I'll make it up to you."

Cloud shook his head. "Don't mention it. I get the bed to myself."

It was true, the agreement was that the girls, Tifa and Yuffie would share a queen sized bed and Cloud (because he worked Yuffie's share as well) got his own bed. Leon and Cid were to sleep on the floor with the bedding they had brought.

Cloud stretched out on the bed. His mind went, yet again, back to scattered memories of Aerith. His heart longed for her. He wished he were alone and a sense of irritability settled across his body. He listened to his friends; their breathing began to slow as they dropped off into slumber. Cloud wondered if they would notice if he began to cry. He got up and walked over to the window, the moon was shining on the street below. He watched a few people walk by.

Then he jumped as he saw a figure handing a flower to an older woman. He watched intently as the figure walked over and took another flower from out of a basket it was carrying and extended it to a man. The man shook his head and kept walking. Cloud's face was pressed up against the window.

Then it looked up.

_She_ looked up.

Cloud looked deep into those blue eyes and felt his heart skip a beat.

It was Aerith.

He leapt over his sleeping friends and flung open the motel room door. He sprinted down the stairs and ran into the lobby. He didn't pause to look at the confused desk clerk and ran out the front door to the street.

He looked out – and saw no one. He began to search, but not even a single soul came forth to pass him by. Cloud was mystified. He called forth her name, but only the darkness greeted him.

When he turned to go back into the motel, a voice whispered to him, carried on the wind.

"Cloud…"

The blond turned and saw Aerith smiling at him several yards away.

He extended a hand to her, surprised. "Aerith."

She began to turn around and walk down the street.

Cloud ran toward her, not wanting her to leave him again.

The night was dark and the moon no longer shone, blotted out against the blackness of the night sky along with the stars.

"Aerith wait!" Cloud nearly had her in his grasp. He tried to touch her, but his hand went right through her. She vanished. "No!"

"Cloud…" he was startled to see her appear again, this time on the steel and iron bridge toward Foretelling Isle. He was confused, but followed her.

She waited, smiling up at him. This time he did not try to touch her.

"Aerith?" Cloud tried again.

She pointed toward the sky. "She stole it from us, the stars and the moon."

Cloud shook his head. "Tifa? No, no she was just trying to help."

Aerith shook her own head, still smiling. "No Cloud, it's gone, forever."

Growing increasingly perplexed, Cloud spread his hands wide. "I'm sorry, I won't let her take away anything else."

Aerith's face suddenly turned frightened and upset, tears poured from her blue eyes. "She will take you away from me," her voice was raspy, deeper.

Cloud looked on, shocked by what she said. "No, I won't let her."

"She already has!" Aerith screamed. Her face turned dark and she began to grow taller, her hair turned silver and her eyes burned. He took a step back, terrified. She had morphed into Sephiroth! The villain pulled forth his sword and swung it at Cloud's chest. He felt the skin rip from his body as the lethal blade licked hungrily at his blood. He felt himself falling, falling into darkness. He saw Sephiroth still on the bridge. He turned in midair and saw below him the black, looming ocean. Cloud's eyes began to close even before his body finally reached the water, which struck him like solid concrete.

"Cloud!" A hand was on the boy's shoulder. He shook it off, sweat drenching his bare chest and forehead. He turned in the darkness to see Tifa staring at him with a worried face. "What were you doing?"

Cloud noticed where he was. He was outside, on the edge of the bridge to Foretelling Isle. He took a step back and regained his balance. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Tifa shook her head. "C'mon, let's go back."

Cloud nodded in agreement. Then he felt the wind and noticed he was only wearing his boxers! He had been sleep walking through the town at night in his boxers!

Tifa looked worriedly at Cloud. "Do you remember _anything_?"

The blonde's dream came rushing back. His head spun. "Sephiroth."

Tifa looked around quickly. "He's affecting you here? How can that be? Isn't he still on the Dusk Islands? Is he here, Cloud?"

The blond shrugged. "I – I don't know."

Tifa walked closer to the boy, peering at the darkened alleys with dread. "Do you think he'll come after us? Or you?"

Cloud turned to her and stopped. She hesitated; he could tell she was afraid of the darkness. "If he does, his fight is with me. I will protect everyone I can. Don't worry."

Tifa nodded and kept walking toward the motel, he followed close behind.

When they got inside, the desk clerk was staring at Cloud with suspicion. It was not the woman, like it had been in his dream, but it was an older man, with a cigar lit in his mouth.

Cloud walked up the stairs slowly, remembering in his dream how he had, fully clothed, ran down these steps to get to her…

She was gone again. His heart ached. Sephiroth could even rip her away from him in nightmares.

"You're so quiet," Tifa said unhappily.

"I'm tired," Cloud replied, figuring it was the logical answer.

They entered the room and Tifa lay back down beside the clueless Yuffie. Cloud walked over to the window. He looked down upon the black streets and wished he could see her again. He turned away, not noticing a figure pass by.

The night no longer held terror for him.

His light had been stolen. He had to find it again.

The night went on, but Cloud did not sleep.

**XxX End Chapter Four XxX**


	6. Who Are You Taking to Homecoming?

**A Heart Renewed **

**By: CrimsonCrome**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Kingdom Hearts or any of the companies that own the game. I do own Patience, Garrett, and any other characters/made up ideas. I kind of own Sora's made up mom too.**_

_A/N: Thank you **treasureplanet-gurl, Raine Ishida, **and** A-Mystery-Indeed** for giving your kind and helpful reviews. I do apologize again for all of the out of character dialogue that is going on. I hope that it will get better. I am trying my best to use them and keep them in their personalities, but it is quite difficult. I do hope that everyone will continue to read these chapters. I'm thinking somewhere around 10 or 15 will be enough. I'm not sure yet. But I have so many ideas. I love the idea of a keyblade war... I know, it's overused, but brilliant!_

Chapter Five

Axel pulled his smoking gun back to the waitress's head.

Garrett gulped; staring at the floorboard that had a hole where a bullet went through that nearly killed him.

"Don't speak again," Axel hissed.

The supervisor walked slowly over to the red head. "Please, that was unnecessary, just take the money and go."

"Don't tell me what to do, old man," Axel warned, waving the gun at him momentarily. "Alright, see you kids later." He dragged the waitress out the door.

Garrett stood. "Is everyone all right?"

Sora couldn't believe what had just happened to him. He was surprised that Axel was that serious of a gang leader. He thought him to be one who was all talk – but unfortunately that wasn't the case. He felt his hands clench at his sides and then finally stood. He pulled Kairi up and hugged her close, she cried into his chest. Roxas was shaking. Patience was deathly pale, even paler than her usual. Selphie grabbed onto the back of Kairi and hugged her, crying, from behind. Riku had a perplexed look on his face and Wakka was covering his mouth with the palm of his hand. Tidus was the only one who really moved. He got up and went to the window.

"I think he's gone," Tidus stated for the whole restaurant to hear. A pent up sigh seemed to let loose from everyone in the room. Several people began to gather their things and call people. Sirens could be heard down the road.

"We'll probably have to stay here," Garrett told his youth group. "I'm sorry, Patience, it seems nothing has gone right tonight."

She shrugged. "You couldn't control it sir," she whispered.

Garrett nodded sadly and joined Tidus at the window. Sora stroked Kairi's hair, glad that they were comfortable enough to hold each other like this, even if Selphie was sort of holding them as well. The two finally let go of him and Sora went over to join Tidus and Garrett at the window.

"Hey, you guys, I think that those people went after Axel," Tidus nearly shouted, then lowered his voice cautiously. "There were two guys and a girl that followed Axel as he ran with the waitress. They left that guy with the girl on his back standing there. I wonder what they are doing."

Garrett sighed. "I hope they don't get themselves killed, that's the last thing we need."

Sora slowly opened the front door and went outside. A girl and two guys were joining up with the boy giving the girl a piggyback ride. They all seemed dirty and worn out.

Then the boy who was giving the girl a piggyback ride turned and looked at him. That moment in time was burned deep into Sora's memory. The boy's hair was spiky blond and he was wearing an all black cloak, in a way somewhat similar to Axel's attire. But his frightening blue eyes were what riveted Sora to that spot on the ground. He broke the stare and looked around, wondering where Axel had ran off.

Sora went back inside.

Kairi was paying the supervisor for their pizza. "How much did you loose?"

The supervisor looked at the manager questionably. "You think it'd be okay? I mean it is _gone_ now."

"Yeah," the manager put a hand to his forehead. "Doesn't matter now."

"We lost about one thousand dollars. It was a really good opening day," the supervisor sighed. "And now we have to tell the boss that we lost the money on the _first day_. I hope we don't get fired."

"Surely he'll understand," Selphie spread her hands wide.

"I hope," the manager shrugged. "Well, we better apologize to everyone."

Garrett walked over to the supervisor and manager. "You lost one thousand?"

"Actually, one thousand eighty dollars and two cents," The supervisor said unhappily covering his eyes in anguish.

Kairi smiled at Garrett and he smiled back knowingly.

"Don't worry," Garrett said kindly. "There's good days and bad days, but it's on the bad days that we have to have the strongest faith. Stay steadfast, I'm sure the money will find its way back to you guys."

"Yeah right," the manager said miserably.

**XxX**

Sora was the last one to be dropped off. Garrett turned to him from the front seat of the van. "Hey, will you be there tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. It's right after school, so I'll be there early because I can walk there. I'll have my mom come and bring her car," Sora replied eagerly.

"Good. I don't know if we will even get close to what they had, but we're going to try and keep trying. Maybe a love offering Sunday will help," Garrett smiled and waved as Sora left the van and began trudging across the bridge toward his house on Fate's Cove.

When he reached his house, the lights were burning against the darkness, a shining beacon all by itself. It was about nine thirty when he finally opened his front door to his petite two-story beach house. His mother was in the kitchen.

Sora's house was very small, for a two-story house. On the first floor were the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. On the top floor were his room and his mother's across from him. It was made of old wood and straw, but it held nicely against the storms that blew in off the ocean.

In the kitchen, there was an old stove, a refrigerator, and some kitchen counters. There were some aged, black and white photographs of Sora's mother's mother and father. A square table with two chairs was in the middle of the room. Sora had lumbered in as his mother was heating up some instant chocolate pudding on the stove. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"Hey hun, how was your day?" His mother worked really hard and long hours at a local pawnshop. She ran it basically, because the owner was always traveling. She got paid every two weeks, but it was decent. His mother always pushed Sora to do his best in school because she knew that he deserved better than running a pawnshop.

She was a pretty woman, not too tall and not too short. Her hair was usually pulled back in a curly brown ponytail. She always tried to smile, which made her look even more beautiful, but she was getting older, mainly because of how hard she worked. Thin worry lines were present on her pleasant features, even under her plain blue eyes.

Sora loved her a lot because she tried so hard – and still was really nice to everyone. She never used the excuse of "I'm tired," to be grumpy or "I've had a hard day," to make him do things for her. She always kept busy, always kept smiling.

"Well," Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "A lot of bad and good things."

"Really? Are you okay?" She asked, turning completely from her pudding.

"Yeah," Sora shrugged. "You see I kind of got in a fight, but not on purpose. This new gang is in town and they were being really disrespectful to Kairi –"

"So you were just standing up for her?" She asked him, kindly.

"Yeah," he bowed his head in shame. "Selphie's the one that actually started it. But Tidus, Riku, and I all got detentions tomorrow during lunch."

"Oh," Sora's mom smiled broadly. "That girl is always doing something."

Sora shrugged. "That's not the worst part though. We also went to Yuki's deli today, before youth group. This new girl named Patience was working there. She's really nice mom, but she's a nervous wreck. I think she's a refugee from the Dusk Islands. Anyway, she was there and I didn't have any money, so everyone ordered sodas and some ordered food. She brought them back and she spilled pop all over me on accident. She started crying and apologizing, but her boss fired her for what she did. I felt really bad. So we invited her to youth group. But that's not the worst part."

"Aw, that's really sad, is that why the door was unlocked when I came home?" Sora's mother asked, smiling knowingly.

"Oh… yeah, had to changed my clothes. I'm sorry!" He said, scrunching up his face in concern.

"It's okay, nothing's missing," Sora's mom turned back to her pudding and stirred it attentively. "So, how was youth group?"

Sora seated himself at the table and rested his chin on his right palm. "Well, that was pretty bad too. Riku was being unusually mean and said some stuff he shouldn't about Patience. Well, she heard him and went home."

"Oh no!" Sora's mother said in alarm. "So did you lose her completely?"

"Lose her? No, we tracked her down and Riku apologized for his behavior. Then we went to this new pizza place. You see… that was the worst part about my day," Sora said cautiously, not wanting to frighten his mother too much. "When we went to the pizza place, the gang member who I had fought with was there. He was fighting with a waitress, then he left and came back with a gun."

Sora's mother dropped her spoon in the pot on the stove and whirled around. "Oh my gosh! A gun? What happened? Are you okay?" She ran over to him and hugged him close to her stomach.

Sora hugged her back, trying to calm her. "I'm fine mom, but it got kind of wild. The guy with the gun, Axel, actually shot at Garrett once but only to warn him not to talk. Then he ran out with the waitress and all of the pizza places money. I don't know what happened to the woman. We're going to have a carwash to raise money for the pizza place because it was their opening day and they lost a lot."

Sora's mother finally let go of him. She bent down and fixed his hair so it spiked up again. "I'm so glad everyone is okay. Oh, I worry about you so much. I wish I could be there with you all the time."

"Even when I pee?" Sora asked, trying to prompt a laugh from her to lighten the mood.

She did laugh. "_NO_. You're so goofy." Sora's mother went over to the stove and took off the pudding and placed it on a potholder on the table. She went over and opened a cupboard below one of the counters. She pulled out two bowls and two spoons. Then she placed them on the table and filled the bowls with pudding. Sora grabbed one willingly as she offered it to him. They sat in silence for a while and ate the pudding.

"So…" Sora's mother looked at him questioningly. "What are you going to do about homecoming?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, suspicious.

"You going to take anyone? I would prefer you didn't take Selphie, she worries me," his mother said, waving her half chocolaty spoon around.

Sora shook his head. "No, not Selphie. I don't know that I want to go with anyone. You dance with more people if you go alone. Maybe if I went as friends with someone."

"What about Kairi?" His mother asked him, looking intently into her pudding bowl.

Sora eyed her. "What about her?"

"Would you take her to homecoming?" She asked, still avoiding eye contact.

"As a friend? Maybe. Why?" Sora asked her.

"Well…" Sora's mother shook her head. And the conversation ended. Sora washed up the dishes after eating the rest of the pudding in the pot and then traveled up to his bedroom.

It was a really messy room. He had a lot of clothes piled everywhere, strewn about in an abnormal fashion. He lay down on his bed and looked out at the darkened sky from the window in his room. There was no need for a light; he had easily walked in the winding path through his junk to his cot without difficulty. He had it memorized.

The whole first day at school was a shocker, no doubt. But – the thing, strangely, that made him think the most was the way that blond boy stared at him at the pizza place. Were they new refugees from the Dusk Islands? Something was telling him that he needed to see that blond boy again. Something was telling him that some evil was coming – and that boy was the _key._

**XxX**

The next morning Sora woke to the smell of sausage and bacon sizzling downstairs. He grabbed some clothes and walked sleepily down to the bathroom.

"Mom?" Sora asked, confused to see her there. "Why aren't you at work?"

She turned and smiled at him. "I'm taking the day off, the boss said I could, since I haven't for five years now."

Sora gave her another baffled look before she turned and resumed her task of fixing breakfast. He went on his way to the bathroom. Sora took a quick shower and gelled and spiked his hair. He brushed his teeth and then put on some fresh clothes – that looked nearly the same as the ones he wore yesterday. He had many of the same outfits. Sora finished by putting on his big yellow shoes and walked out to see his mother setting the table with piles of food. His eyes lit up hungrily.

"I made as much as I thought a growing boy needs," she said. Sora's mother had cooked sausage, bacon, a large stack of pancakes, some waffles, and scrambled eggs.

"Gee!" Sora cried in surprise. "Thanks a lot mom!" He sat at the table and she handed him a big plate. He put a lot of the food on his plate and ate until he thought he might explode. His mother patiently ate whatever he didn't. He grabbed his backpack and gave his mom a large kiss on the cheek, then went on his way to school. His mother stepped outside and waved him goodbye.

On his way to school, he met up with Roxas at the bakery, who was eating a doughnut. Sora thought the smell of more food was going to make him puke.

"So, you coming to the carwash today?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah," Sora replied. "Dude, that doughnut is making my stomach churn."

Roxas looked from his doughnut to Sora with a bemused look. "Why?"

"My mom made me a huge breakfast after I told her about my day yesterday," Sora explained, rolling his eyes.

"So she stayed home from work to make you food?" Roxas guffawed. "That's hilarious! Wow – mothers."

Sora saw Kairi walking toward them from a grocery store. She was with Patience and Selphie.

"Hey," Sora greeted them as they came over. "You guys want to walk to school with us?"

Kairi nodded. "Sure."

"So how did the sleepover go?" Roxas asked, interested.

"Good," Selphie replied. "We talked a lot about girl stuff and watched some movies and ate popcorn. We also prayed for that lady from the pizza place before we went to bed."

"Hey!" Roxas cried out in surprise. "I prayed for her too!"

Sora averted his eyes, not wanting to admit that he hadn't since everyone present at the time seemed to have. He had just forgotten to pray last night.

"So," Roxas said, turning his attention to Patience. "You should come to church Sunday. Would you like to? All of us sit together. You can also come to my party Friday night. What do you say?"

Patience looked down shyly at her tennis shoes. "Well, I would very much like to. All of you have treated me so nicely."

"Except Riku," Sora spat, forgetting that he was gossiping. "He didn't exactly be nice to you."

"But he apologized and that's all that matters to me anyhow," Patience whispered, more to herself than to the group.

Roxas beamed happily at her. "Oh good! My party starts at five on Friday. So, be there with your favorite blitzball team gear on."

Patience stared at him curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, what is blitzball?"

The group stopped and stared at her. Her face flushed crimson out of embarrassment at the sudden attention.

"You don't _know _what blitzball is?" Roxas cried.

"I'm so sorry," Patience apologized, nearly shaking with nervousness.

Roxas smiled suddenly at her and said, "Well, I suppose that's okay. I guess they don't have it over there at the Dusk Islands."

"No," Patience whispered.

"Anyway," Sora said quickly. "She'll see what it is at the party and Roxas can explain everything that is happening."

Roxas brightened even more. "Yeah!"

They walked on until they got to the front of the school. Riku and Wakka were already there, talking. When Sora and his friends approached them, they stopped chatting. Sora frowned. Had they been talking about Patience again?

"What's going on guys?" Selphie asked them, halfway interested.

Riku shrugged. "Nothing much. Where's Tidus at?"

Sora looked around at all the students standing outside the building. Tidus wasn't anywhere to be found. That was odd. He was usually the first one there.

Selphie pouted a bit and then walked over next to Wakka. "I hope he's okay."

Sora watched his friends for a while, until he saw Riku signaling that he wanted to talk to Kairi in private. They walked out of earshot and Sora watched them like a hawk. Riku was talking first and he spread his hands wide, as if in question. Then Kairi's face turned a dark red and she averted her eyes – but she was smiling. Kairi nodded her head and Riku smiled. They rejoined the group.

Wakka turned to look at Riku and Riku gave him a thumbs up. Kairi whispered something to Selphie and she giggled. Sora thought he was going to faint. Had Riku asked Kairi out? What was going on?

Without thinking, he turned and started walking toward the school. Ignoring shouts of his name from his circle of friends, he went straight to the boy's bathroom. There, Sora sat on the grubby tile floor and ran his fingers through his spiked hair.

Had Riku beat him to the punch? How was this anyway fair to him? Sora got up and started to pace. Then he heard a toilet flush and out of it stepped Tidus.

Tidus looked pale as a ghost. He was holding a crimson rose in his left hand and stopped uncertainly at the sight of Sora.

"What are you doing in here?" Tidus asked, his face twisting up in anger, turning a beat red color.

"I could ask you the same thing," Sora shot back, his own anger rising.

"I – oh! What's the use? I give up, Sora. I'm horrible at handling women!" Tidus threw the rose at Sora, who caught it. "Here, give it to Kairi."

Sora shook his head and looked Tidus straight in the eye. "Is this for Selphie?"

Tidus went pale again. "No – maybe – yes…"

Sora pushed the rose back into the boy's hands. "Put it in her locker before the bell rings. She likes you a lot Tidus. If you were to put an anonymous rose in her locker, she would flip out. She loves romantic stuff like that."

Tidus shook his head in dismay. "Aw dude, I better hurry I guess."

Sora watched him leave the bathroom, running. Then Sora went over to the mirror and looked at his own self. He tied his right shoe and then left the bathroom just as the first bell rang. All the kids began to rush in from the front doors. Sora walked quickly to his own locker and saw Tidus rushing away from Selphie's and to his own down the hallway. Sora wished he had had the courage to do something like that for Kairi.

The day went on and eventually, Sora felt like it was going to be extremely boring, despite the fact that the whole routine was still fairly new. So, when he got to history class, he decided to talk to Patience, hoping she would be of some entertainment.

"Are you going to the carwash tonight? It starts at –" Sora stopped when she shook her head. "Why not?"

"Well," Patience smiled kindly at him. "I need to find another job. My mom is having a difficult time supporting us on only one income. So, I'm going for a job interview at the pawnshop here in town. I hope that they take me."

"Hey! That's where my mom works everyday!" Sora said with a broad smile. "I'll put in a good word for you. Wait, I thought my mom didn't have to work today?"

Patience shrugged her shoulders. "She's coming in at 4:45 then, I suppose. She said she'd be there."

"Hmm," Sora scratched his head. "That's odd. I never thought that mom would schedule a job interview on the one day she got off after five years!"

Patience turned red. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know. I can reschedule! I didn't know that your mother was off today. Oh, I feel terrible! Five years?"

Sora couldn't help but laugh at her nervous babbling. "It's okay, if mom wants to see you today, then it is for a good reason."

"Maybe I should make it Friday though. I don't want to take up her day off," Patience shook her head in dismay.

"No, don't worry about it. Mom's a really hard worker. She wants to do the job right and besides, the sooner you get to work, the better," Sora turned in his seat as the teacher told him to be quiet, but they continued to pass notes.

Then something hit Sora and he began to realize the situation he was in. Riku had probably either asked Kairi to the dance or asked her out. So – that would mean he would have to find another date to homecoming. And if the date were a _real_ date, instead of just friends, then maybe Kairi would become jealous. That's what he really wanted – to see if Kairi cared about him.

He wrote in the note:

_Sora: Are you going to homecoming?_

_Patience: Maybe – I don't know yet. I'm kind of scared of going by myself._

_Sora: You could come with me._

_Patience: As friends?_

_Sora: I suppose if you want it to be that way._

_Patience: Um… I don't know._

_Sora: Look, I'd like to go with you like you were my date, if that's okay._

_Patience: Oh! Um… yeah. That would be pretty cool._

_Sora: Really? So that's a yes?_

_Patience: Sure! Wow – I really didn't expect this. Thanks Sora!_

_Sora: No problem._

_Patience: Okay, I'll make arrangements. I can't wait!_

Sora crumpled up the note as the bell rang, completely satisfied.

**XxX**

At lunch, Sora was eating in the office with Riku, Tidus, and Selphie. Axel's gang was there – including the quiet girl in white – but there was no Axel to be found. Sora knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to show up to school after yesterday. That would have been tremendously foolish.

The room was silent. Everyone just stared and chewed. No one talked, no one made any other noise than a soft swallow, and no one dared to get done eating first.

Sora ended up getting done with his food first, but he waited until the rest of his friends were done.

He watched the girl in the white dress. She had pretty blond hair that was a bit below her shoulders. She had it loosely pulled over to one side. Her eyes were large, piercing and a stunning blue shade. Was she the thirteenth member of this alleged group? Or was there someone else that was the thirteenth one? She didn't look anything like the others, and she was very withdrawn and proper. She seemed to be completely out of place among them.

"If you are done, go to the lunchroom and wait for the bell to ring," a man had walked in from the back of the room and Sora hadn't even noticed him until he spoke. He was wearing a badge that read: _Vice Principal Gary Punnett_.

Riku stood and Sora followed, along with the rest of his friends. They dumped their trash in a small wastebasket and walked out the door and out of the office to the lunchroom.

Selphie flipped her hair absently and then preoccupied herself with looking at her nails. Tidus was sneaking quick peeks at her. Sora could tell he was nervous. Sora wanted to laugh at Tidus, which would have been mean, but he knew better. The kid was a wreck, worrying about Selphie in the first place.

When they got to the lunchroom, they saw Kairi sitting, unhappily, by herself. She stood when they entered and smiled at them. "So how did it go?" She asked.

Riku shrugged. "It went."

Selphie giggled. "It was awkward, but it's over now. Axel wasn't there of course, which is good, but the rest of them seemed stupid without their leader to guide them."

"Who is that blond girl that was there?" Sora asked the group. He noticed Kairi turned and stared at him curiously.

"I think her name is Naminé," Selphie offered. "I heard it from some other girls that have a class with her. But she supposedly never talks."

"I'd like to figure out why she's with those gang members. She seems so out of place," Sora said, pondering what he had just said.

Tidus laughed. "Yeah right, man! You just think she's cute."

Sora laughed. "So what if I do." Out of the corner of his eye, he tried to watch Kairi's reaction, but didn't really get a good glimpse.

The guys all whooped and laughed at that, patting him on the back jokingly. They began to say something rude when Selphie stopped them with a different question.

"So who's all going to homecoming? We only have until next weekend," Selphie pointed out.

"Why do they always plan it so early in the year?" Riku asked, pacing. The bell rang and all of the kids began to file out.

"So," Selphie said, coming up to Sora, "who are you taking? Did you find yourself a girl yet?"

Sora shrugged. "I might have someone in mind. I might tell you who it is, if you tell me something."

"Okay," Selphie said. "Shoot."

Sora looked around and whispered the question in Selphie's ear. "Who's going with Kairi to homecoming?"

Selphie grinned. "No one. Why?"

Sora's face fell into a deep frown. That wasn't what she was supposed to say. What was he going to do now?

**XxX End Chapter Five XxX**


	7. A Provoked Food Fight

**A Heart Renewed **

**By: CrimsonCrome **

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any Final Fantasy stuff. I just like to play the game, which I bought! Anyway, I do own my OCs that I made up specifically for this story and all the made up settings/names/ideas/things that I created. Thank you._**

_A/N: Thank you __**A-Mystery-Indeed, Raine Ishida, **__and__** treasureplanet-gurl **__for the kind reviews. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy these stories. I know it's sometimes hard to keep up with what day Sora and Cloud are on, but I hope that I'll make it easy enough to understand._

_Warning: Some religious material, but inaccurate portrayal._

Chapter Six

Morning came with unpleasant gray rays of light through the thin curtains in the hotel. The air conditioning rumbled as it came back to life, spewing out musty smelling air.

Cloud was awake, he had not slept much anyway. He pulled his aching body out of bed and walked slowly, dragging his feet and hunching his back, to the hotel room door. He opened it and walked down stairs. He had forgotten again that he was in his boxers, but luckily for him, no one was around this early in the morning to see him. He went over to the continental breakfast laid out without attendants and picked up a doughnut. Then he went over to a juice machine and filled up a Styrofoam cup with some orange juice. After doing all of this, he turned and began to go back up the stairs and down the hall to his room. But he stopped and decided to go out on the balcony, not realizing it would probably be indecent in his checkered boxers. Cloud opened the door and sat down at a table. The suspended balcony was over the parking lot, giving the attendee a view of the rising brick wall of the neighboring building. Cloud ate his doughnut silently, staring at the wall without much thought.

Then the door opened to the balcony and Tifa was there. Cloud jumped and tried to hide himself the best he could in his chair. He scooted further under the translucent table.

"What are you doing out here in your boxers, silly?" Tifa asked, suppressing a laugh but not a grin.

"Trying to eat my doughnut in peace," he mumbled, grumpy. "How did you know I was out here?"

"Cloud," Tifa said, rolling her eyes. "You are sitting in front of a see-through glass door. I saw you from the hallway!"

Cloud sipped at his orange juice, then turned back to her. "Well whatever."

"What's the matter?" Tifa asked, concerned.

"I don't know. That dream is bugging me," Cloud said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh," Tifa clenched her hands into fists. "We'll take him on together, if he is too much."

"Who? Oh, Sephiroth. Yeah – I mean no! He's my enemy. It's not your fight," Cloud said. He looked over the balcony and something caught his eye. It was a small blond girl. She stopped on the sidewalk and turned her eyes toward him, almost as if she knew he was watching her! Startled, Cloud stood, sat down again quickly and tried to regain some composure. The girl smiled, a soft, genuine smile, then turned and walked off.

"Who was that?" Cloud asked.

"Huh? Who?" Tifa asked.

Cloud looked at her curiously. "That girl? She was blond with a white dress and had on flip-flops? Didn't you see her?"

"I didn't see anyone. Cloud, are you okay?" Tifa asked.

Cloud stood again, ran past Tifa (mainly because of his indecent state) and went to the room. He found some clothes, avoiding waking his friends, and ran out into the hallway again and down the stairs. When he went out the lobby door, where he saw her again.

She was now on the opposite side of the street, staring at him. She was smiling though. Cloud went over to her – something he wouldn't usually do.

"Good morning," she said kindly as he walked up to her.

"Good morning," Cloud replied, a bit puzzled at what his intentions were in the first place.

The girl put her hands behind her back and intertwined her fingers. She leaned forward a little, looking Cloud straight in the eyes. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Cloud was taken aback. Was this some kind of pick up line – from a girl?

"Yes," she nodded, "You'd have to. Otherwise, you wouldn't worry so much about your dream."

"What?" Cloud narrowed his eyes and took a step back.

"That's right. You're nightmare about Aerith; and Sephiroth, of course. He's coming here, like you predicted he would. It won't be long now. He moves swiftly," the girl removed her hands from behind her back and stood up straight. "But there's always a second road."

"What?" Cloud repeated himself, shaking his head.

The girl smiled. "If you believe in destiny, then you must understand that destiny can be changed. Every little thing that you do causes a continual ripple effect. It changes everything or nothing that happens in the future. If you try to avoid your fate, your focus is on that fate, therefore causing that precise fate to come true. But if you were to try and create a new fate, your focus in on that new fate, therefore causing the precise fate to come true. Except for when there is intervention from those who wish to see you find another fate, which can sometimes alter your results."

Cloud spread his hands wide in question. "What are you saying? Who are you anyway? Have we met before? How did you know about my dream?"

"Cloud," the girl whispered. "I'm here to change destiny – your fate and that of a boy named Sora. You know him – just not very well. But this will cause many other destinies to alter, that of which I may not be able to control. But you two are important. Sora is the key. He must be kept alive. And you – you will protect this town from its destined fate. The rest is up to me."

"I do not understand," Cloud placed his head in his hands and sighed.

"It's a lot to take in. I'm sorry. In the end, you may not remember what happened and you may be somewhere different. But if you promise to protect these good people, I will protect you," she took her fingertips and touched his forehead with them.

Cloud's mind exploded with a vision of a blood red sky and a steel bridge. On it stood a figure.

"This is Sephiroth, correct?" The girl's voice seemed distant now.

"Yes," Cloud whispered.

The figure disappeared. Another appeared in his place. Cloud was puzzled; had he seen this person before? It was a boy, younger then he was. The boy had spiky brown hair and vivid blue eyes. He stood tall and confidently, with a broad smile across his tanned face.

"This is Sora," the girl said. "He will help you in the final battle, sealing the keyhole to this world. It's up to you two to win. I will do what I can to alter your futures, but you must understand – in the end, it's up to God what happens to you."

"How can you alter futures? I don't understand," Cloud cried out in anger.

"I am an angel – posing as a nobody, which I do not have time to explain what they are. I have been sent here to warn you what is coming and tell you what you must do," the girl whispered.

"Who are you?" Cloud shouted, not knowing what to believe.

"My name is Naminé. Sephiroth is the embodiment of your darkness, Cloud, so you may never truly get rid of him. Only God knows. Sephiroth is your own personal demon. He is a corruptor, a servant of Satan. They are both fallen angels. Even though it appears Sephiroth has much power, Lucifer has much more indeed. But even though evil may enter the world, it cannot fully take over. You must find yourself, Cloud. You are the light. You will win. You will not die," there was a flash of white light and then he was alone.

Cloud's mouth was gaping open with shock at what he just heard.

Had he just imagined her?

"Cloud?" Tifa had just come out of the lobby door and onto the street where he was.

"What?" Cloud replied, distantly.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Tifa took his hand in hers and Cloud retracted it without thinking. He looked into her concerned eyes and somewhat regretted his reaction.

He shrugged. "I have a lot on my mind. I think Sephiroth will be coming soon. We must prepare this place. Where can we draw him to, so that these people are not in the way of our fight?"

Tifa shook her head and then raised her pointed finger upward, signaling she had an idea. "Fate's Cove! No one is there, but children – and they only go in the afternoon."

"And if he comes during the afternoon?" Cloud questioned her.

"Then–" Tifa placed her hand on her head as her eyes misted over with deep thought. After a few minutes, she pointed to Foretelling Isle. "We'll have to lure him across the bridge."

Cloud shivered. In his nightmare he had died on the bridge, Sephiroth slicing open his chest as he tumbled to the dark ocean below…

"I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't use any bridges to any islands. I think we should lure him to…" Cloud looked around in the darkness. "Is there a park around here?"

Tifa shrugged. "I'll find one! We can look today!"

Cloud nodded. "Okay."

The two went back inside. The others were already eating from the continental breakfast bar. Yuffie was cramming in a muffin when Cloud entered the room.

"Heaaaah!" She waved to them, food stuffed in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. "Where were you guys?"

"Outside," Cloud explained.

Leon smirked. "Doing_ what?_"

Cloud gave Leon a dark, warning stare and proceeded to sit down next to Cid, who was enjoying himself a low fat strawberry yogurt.

"Gosh I love food," Cid mumbled, licking his spoon dreamily.

Tifa brightened and piled up a large plate of food. Everyone except Leon and Cloud ate a vast amount of victuals. They had been starving on the Dusk Islands. So now that they had access to food, they weren't going to easily pass it by.

Yuffie was on her third orange when she finally decided to confront Leon. "You know, I think it's high time you left our company."

"Ouch," Leon said in mock offense. "That's just so cruel."

Yuffie shrugged and peeled away an orange slice. Some juice from the orange squirted from the fruit and hit Leon above the eye. Yuffie laughed openly at this, causing Leon to flick a corn flake at her. Yuffie stopped laughing and narrowed her eyes in anger. She then picked up a half eaten doughnut and leaned across the table. With one quick movement, she squashed it on his nose and rubbed it all over his face. Stunned, Leon sat there and let her wipe the sugary, glazed bread across his features.

Tifa gasped and Cid unsuccessfully tried to conceal a laugh. Cloud looked on in approval.

Leon slowly stood from his chair after Yuffie sat back down. He stole her orange from her and – when she began to protest – shoved the fruit into her open mouth. Yuffie took a second to wrench the orange from her teeth and then leapt – broken leg and all - over the table, knocking Leon to the floor. She scrambled up and hobbled over to the breakfast bar. She grabbed a milk jug. She then unscrewed the cap and splashed the liquid onto him. However, this time, Leon didn't stand still. He jerked the jug from her hands. After doing this, he pulled the neck of her shirt toward him and dumped the rest of the milk down the front of her chest. She screamed and fell backward, knocked off balance. Leon threw the empty jug and got the salt. He opened the top of the shaker and flung the salt onto her. Getting off the floor (salt pouring from her black hair and off of her shorts), Yuffie hopped over to the counter and grabbed a yogurt cup. She opened it and then tackled Leon to the ground. She then shifted so that she was straddling him so he couldn't get up. She dipped her fingers in the yogurt and was about to stick it in his ear when Cloud pulled her off of him.

"What?" Yuffie yelled in exasperation, pulling at the front of her soaked shirt and leaning on Cloud for support. "Why did you do that for?"

Cloud pointed to the hotel manger.

Yuffie's face flushed a dark red. "Oh, hello."

The manager pointed to the lobby door. "_OUT_."

**XxX**

Cloud was now walking with Yuffie, Tifa, Leon, and Cid down the main street on Vision Shores. The town was now bustling with activity and many people looked curiously at Leon and Yuffie, who were still covered in their breakfast foods. Cloud had to carry Yuffie on his back, and the salt that had stuck to her was now making him itch as it got on his legs and arms.

Cid sighed. "We got to find shelter for tonight. Then maybe tomorrow someone can look for a decent job."

"But where can we stay?" Tifa asked.

Cid shrugged and kept walking. But it wasn't even a second afterward that a woman tapped him on the shoulder. Cid whirled and faced her.

She had pretty brown hair and plain blue eyes. She was of average height and was wearing a pretty flower patterned sundress. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear that you might need a place to stay tonight. I would gladly provide you with accommodations. I have a shower if you two want to get cleaned up." She pointed to Leon and Yuffie.

"Really?" Tifa asked in complete surprise. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Well," the woman smiled. "I suppose it wouldn't be called a good deed if I asked for something back, now would it? I can take you home right now and I won't charge you anything. I was just out and about, buying some groceries with my last paycheck. I was planning on looking for a new job today, but I can easily do that tomorrow. Please, follow me!"

Cloud, Yuffie, Tifa, Cid, and Leon followed the nice woman out of town and across the bridge heading toward Fate's Cove. When they finally reached the beach house, the woman opened the door and let them all file into it.

"Now," the lady said. "Three of you can take my room, but the other two will have to sleep down here on the couches in the living room. I will sleep on the recliner." She walked over to the refrigerator and put some of her groceries inside, then put the rest in cupboards. "You may all help yourself to any food you would like. Except for the chilled chocolate pudding. I got that special for Sora."

Cloud nearly dropped Yuffie. She squeaked in surprised displeasure.

"Your son's named Sora?" Cloud barely rasped out. Was this a sign that Sephiroth was to be here soon? He happened to look out a window and saw a flash of blond hair and the edge of a white dress before it disappeared past the screen.

Naminé?

"Yes," the woman turned and smiled. "Do you know him? He's such a good boy."

"No," Cloud shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. "I've heard of him."

"Oh," the woman turned to a cupboard and produced a baking sheet and a teapot. "I'll make some chicken fingers and green tea. You all may help yourself to the television in the living room. There are a few books in there too, but I don't know if you'd like them."

Cloud walked into the living room with his group and deposited Yuffie on the couch; then he sat down wearily. Yuffie hopped back into the kitchen. Leon began to follow her, but Cloud caught the young man's arm and yanked him backward a bit.

"Knock it off!" Leon shouted in the blonde's face.

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from her."

"I just want a shower," Leon snapped.

Cid found a remote and turned on the small television. It had white and black dots dancing on the screen. Cid stood and wiggled the antenna around until a fuzzy picture came in.

"On this afternoons six o'clock news…" the TV blasted.

Cid turned down the volume with the remote. They watched as a local news reporter as she walked around a parking lot. A lot of teenagers were washing vehicles and spraying them down with water hoses.

"As you can see," the woman reporter spoke into the microphone. "These hard working kids are scrubbing away at these cars, vans, and trucks without slowing down or tiring of their job. These kids you see before you are the youth group from the First Church of Christ on Basil Drive. They didn't have us come here, but we got a tip from a local pizza shop manager that they were doing this. So why are they washing all these automobiles?

"Yesterday evening a young man with spiky red hair walked into the same pizza shop that I mentioned earlier and pulled a gun on the supervisor. He robbed the place and held a woman hostage until he could get away. I was told she was not harmed. These young teenagers were in that pizza shop at the time of the robbery. No one was hurt. However, the red headed robber got away with approximately one thousand dollars.

"So, as an act of pure kindness, this youth group and their leader decided to have a car wash to raise money for the just opened pizza parlor. I encourage you to come down and at least make a donation for all the hard work these kids have done to help out this business. If you do not recognize this place, it's none other than the First Church of Christ parking lot here on Basil Drive. So come with car and donation to help out your community and these wonderful young men and women.

"I'm Gina Anthrop with the latest six o' clock news. Back to you Steve," The screen switched over to a bald man sitting at a counter with papers in hand. He began babbling on about a fire on Foretelling Isle that firefighters were trying to control, but Cloud did not listen.

Sora was at that carwash. He had been laughing with a red headed girl while spraying off the side of an SUV.

Cloud shook his head. Sora was only a _child_. What part would he play in the upcoming events? Was he really that important – enough for Naminé to alter his destiny?

They waited for Sora's mother to get done with dinner, watching various channels and debating on whether comedies were indispensable entertainment compared to sports.

Sora's mother finally beckoned them back into the kitchen. When they entered she was busy dusting off some fold up chairs from a closet. She placed them under the square table and then busied herself with setting all the plates, cups, and silverware. By the time she had the food on the table, and the tea in the teacups, everyone except her was drooling.

Yuffie hopped over to a chair and sat down. Her hair was wet from a recent shower. Leon also seated himself, now clean of any still lingering breakfast food.

"I thought you were only going to make chicken fingers," Tifa whispered in sheer awe.

Sora's mother had indeed made the chicken fingers she promised, but she had mixed them into a zesty pasta dish. She had also made a loaf of brown bread with butter and jam waiting to be spread on it. But the best part was the small, simple chocolate cake sitting in the center of the table.

"I'm sorry, do you not want my pasta?" Sora's mother asked Tifa, sounding hurt.

"Oh no!" Tifa cried. "You got me all wrong! I just can't believe you were so nice as to make all of this for us!"

Sora's mother shrugged. "I like to cook."

Everyone filled his or her plates eagerly, but leaving the chocolate cake untouched. They were about to begin eating when Sora's mother folded her hands together and proclaimed: "Let's pray."

Cid had a forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth, but stopped and whimpered a bit. Tifa looked madly at the steaming brown bread. Yuffie pouted.

Sora's mother went straight into prayer, asking them to bow their heads and let her do so. They did as they were told, but not willingly.

The prayer seemed to last forever to the hungry refugees, but when it was finished, they were all extremely grateful that they had the food in the first place. Then they ate.

Sora's mother ate a tiny amount, but refilled the other's plates voluntarily as they each shoved the well-prepared food past their lips. When all of the meal was gone, Sora's mother sliced the cake and gave each of them a piece, saving one. However, she did not eat it, but only watched the people at the table close their eyes in pleasure as they ate the delectable cake.

Cid looked eagerly at the last piece. "Are you going to eat that?"

Sora's mother laughed. "That I am saving for my son. I'm sorry. If you are still hungry, I can make some instant chocolate pudding."

Cid smiled wearily. "I don't need it. Thank you for all of the food. Everyone stood up from the table and headed to the living room with the exception of Yuffie, Cloud, and Sora's mother.

"What's your name?" Yuffie asked the nice woman.

Sora's mother smiled. "I'm Jane."

"Nice to meet you, Jane," Yuffie replied, while hopping over to the refrigerator for support. "Need help with the dishes?"

"No, dear, thank you. We'll get you to a hospital and see about that leg of yours," Jane said pointing to Yuffie's swollen right leg. "But as for now, I would like you to rest on the couch."

Cloud watched as Yuffie limped off and then he turned to Jane. "I'll help you with the dishes."

Jane smiled. "I'm obliged. Here, we can work on them together." With each of them working their fastest, they had the dishes finished in no time. Cloud sat down at the table and listened to Jane speak over a fresh cup of steaming tea.

"I just lost my job yesterday. I didn't want to worry Sora, so I told him I had the day off. I suppose it was a lie, which I regret. Anyway, I have to find a good paying job or I'm afraid I won't be able to feed him or put money in his bank account for college." Jane was smiling, but her eyes were wet. "I love him so much, I don't want anything to happen to my baby."

Cloud couldn't help feel guilty. Naminé had told him Sora was important and he wondered if his mother knew his role in the events to come. Cloud was sure she didn't. Even he did not know.

They didn't have much time to continue talking because the front door opened. Jane waved to the figure that appeared in the doorway. "Oh hello, Sora! We have some visitors, this young man's name is Cloud."

Cloud turned to see a spiky haired boy standing in the doorway with a young woman with jet-black hair. He recognized Sora, but didn't know who the girl was.

"Hi mom. Nice to meet you Cloud. Um, this is Patience," Sora said, pointing to the black haired girl.

Cloud looked at the young woman. His head whirled for a second as he finally recognized who the girl was.

It was Sephiroth's daughter.

**XxX End Chapter Six XxX**


	8. An Abrupt End

**A Heart Renewed **

**By: CrimsonCrome **

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Final Fantasy series stuff. I do own everything I created by myself._**

_A/N: Thank you to my kind reviewers, __**A-Mystery-Indeed**__**Raine Ishida**__, and __**FairyFox180**__. I am very grateful that you all keep reading and reviewing! Please tell others about this story if you can, I would like some different feedback on my writing style. Thank you __**FairyFox180**__, for taking the time to catch up and review each chapter individually. Oh, and __**SilverPheonix-Dragon**__, where is your story? This will be the last chapter and it shall be quite short._

Chapter Seven:

Later on in the evening, the group was watching T.V. in the living room together. Cloud watched Patience like a hawk.

She was a nervous girl, not nearly as intimidating as her father.

Cloud remembered being on the Dusk Islands and knowing Sephiroth as a friend. They had done a lot of stupid things as SOLDIERS in the army, mainly causing minor trouble. Cloud remembered the day Sephiroth turned on him, showing him his true identity. He was nearly drawn into the darkness that surrounded Sephiroth like an aura, but managed to escape at the last possible second. Then he remembered the horrors that followed.

First Sephiroth burnt down Cloud's hometown and that of Tifa's, Yuffie's and Cid's. Then he began ravaging all of the Dusk Islands, building up a hostile army that attacked at will and with unstoppable force. Within a year, Sephiroth had the Dusk Islands within his control.

After he became the "supreme ruler", he married – six times. By the time he married his sixth wife, his first wife bore him his only child. Thus, Patience came into the story.

However, a child did not fit into Sephiroth's plans. If he could find a way to immortality, what use would an heir be? But – he wasn't immortal yet. That meant that there was still a chance that his first wife would plot against him and try to take the throne. In blind rage, Sephiroth killed off his other five wives but didn't manage to kill his first wife and daughter – for they had fled the night before.

It wasn't long before people were looking for the mother and daughter – wanting to kill them. Patience was the child of pure evil.

The people never did find them until one-day rumors began to filter in from some of Sephiroth's ravaged cities that she still lived. They turned out to be true. Patience's mother had two sons named Daniel and Paul with another man. As Daniel grew he schemed to take over Sephiroth's throne and restore the Dusk Islands. A war soon began.

Daniel was very successful at first. He would show up on screens in the city as they hacked into the computer systems and give long taunting speeches to Sephiroth about how he was going to take over. Patience would always stand, silent, beside Daniel.

In spite of a good attempt to overthrow the throne, Sephiroth killed Daniel and his father after a surprise ambush attack on their secret headquarters. Paul then took up the fight and continued the war, but Patience and her mother – obviously – escaped from the Dusk Islands and ended up in Destiny Islands.

Even though Sephiroth and Patience _seemed_ to be on opposite sides, Cloud wasn't taking any chances.

When Patience finally said goodbye and took her leave of the house, Cloud slipped out and followed her. Right when she was about to cross the bridge to Vision Shores, Cloud sprung from his crouched position and tackled her.

"Ah!" She screamed in surprise, landing with a thud on the sand. Cloud wrestled with her until he had her arms pinned so that she couldn't move.

"Shut up," Cloud hissed. "Listen to me! Sephiroth is here isn't he? Where is he? I know you know!"

Patience's eyes widened. "What? He's here? No, I don't know where he is! Please, let me go! I wanted to escape from him! Oh I have to get home! Please, let go of me!"

Cloud looked at her suspiciously. "Why would you go home?"

"He might go after my mother!" Patience screamed in alarm.

Cloud's eyes widened as he realized the urgency of the situation. He got off of Patience and helped her up. "Come, we better go see if she's okay."

Patience nodded. "Okay, thank you. I know that you may not trust me, but I didn't ask to be born of Sephiroth. Please keep that in mind."

Cloud sniffed. "But you were – and I'm not taking any chances."

They ran off through the town until they finally reached Patience's house.

**XxX**

Sora had followed Cloud out of the house. He saw him ambush Patience and decided to see what they were talking about – so again he tracked them all the way to Patience's house.

Who was this Sephiroth? Sora wondered.

**XxX**

Cloud and Patience looked at the door hanging wide open to the house. Patience lost it and went screaming through the house for her mother, completely terrified. Cloud ran the opposite way Patience did in order to cover more ground faster. He ended up opening a door to a bathroom and quickly shut it again.

"Patience," he gasped. "Patience – your mother – she's in here."

Patience ran to the bathroom and flung the door wide open. She shrieked in horror as she saw her mother's limp body swinging back and forth from the ceiling with a noose around her neck. Tears flooded Patience's cheeks and she wept below her mother's swinging feet.

"This wasn't suicide," Cloud whispered, more to himself than Patience. "It was Sephiroth."

"Indeed it was I, Cloud."

**XxX**

Sora waited outside the house. He watched as Cloud and Patience went in. There was silence for a while – then Sora heard Cloud's voice calling for Patience. From the bush he was hiding behind, he could then see a tall, dark, silver haired man entering the house and he heard Patience scream. That was enough; Sora stood from his hiding place and ran inside.

**XxX**

"Why?" Patience wailed. "Why did you hurt her? She was old and defenseless! She never did _anything_ to you!"

Sephiroth sneered. "She gave birth to you, did she not? And to two of the most bothersome sons – which I can finally say I killed both of them."

Patience screamed again and collapsed on the floor in her grief.

Cloud gritted his teeth. "You deserve to die."

"Can you kill me?" Sephiroth challenged him sharply.

"He can if _I_ help him!" Sora shouted from behind.

Cloud saw Sora rush at Sephiroth and then all went dark…

When Cloud opened his eyes, he was on the bridge. Patience and Sora were standing behind him – and Sephiroth in front of him. The silver haired fiend stretched forth his sword and grinned wickedly.

"Look familiar Cloud?" His voice seemed to carry on the wind and echo.

Cloud drew his sword and Sora drew forth a dinky wooden sword.

"Hah! How do you expect to beat me with that, I wonder?" Sephiroth taunted Sora.

Patience's face was so red with hate and anger; Cloud thought she might actually explode.

And oh she did.

Without a seconds delay she withdrew _two_ long katana swords – exactly like Sephiroth's. "YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING ALL WHO ARE DEAR TO ME!"

Sephiroth truly looked scared for a moment, faced with two swords that looked like the _one_ he was holding. Then he replaced his mask of indifference and got in a ready stance. "Let's do this."

Cloud and Sora started forward, but Patience had a complete mind of her own. She charged at Sephiroth, bringing both blades crashing down on his one. She pushed with her rage, anger, and body weight down on him. "Fight you coward." He pushed her off and she fell for an instant, but was up like lightning to dodge a swift attack from Sephiroth.

Meanwhile, Sora and Cloud looked on in dismay, wondering if they should even interfere at all.

"I thought this was supposed to be _my_ fight, but maybe I was wrong," Cloud shook his head.

Sora shrugged. "Are we supposed to just watch?"

"Oh," Cloud realized. "Maybe this is what Naminé was talking about when she said she was going to intervene?"

"Naminé? Oh, the girl from my school? Who wears white all the time?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, you know her?" Cloud asked.

"Not well –"

They didn't have much time to talk, because they had to dodge the fighters.

Patience jumped in the air and flipped over Sephiroth, blocking a quick thrust and then swinging so that her blade came slashing through Sephiroth's back. Blood seeped through the back of his coat, but it was only a flesh wound. Sephiroth snickered and kicked her off balance as she landed. Patience crashed with a loud _oomph_ on the steel bridge. Cloud and Sora ran to help her out, but they were blocked from Sephiroth by an invisible force field. Patience barely had time to scream as Sephiroth swung his blade and cut off all he black hair, then twirled the blade and sunk it deep into her calf. She arched her back and yelped in agony. Sephiroth smirked.

"You're weak. Just like your brothers were, your mother was, your stepfather was," Sephiroth smirked. "Pathetic little ingrate. Why don't you just die?" Sephiroth lifted his sword above his head, point down and sunk it deep into her back.

Patience gasped a quick breath and her eyes misted over with not only oncoming death, but also fright.

Cloud and Sora shouted in unison her name. Sephiroth lowered the force field. "Let's settle this Cloud."

Patience was bleeding profusely, splattering the cold steel with her blood. She clutched at the wound through her chest and stood for one instant. With one weak leap, she ran into Sephiroth, knocking him off guard. Cloud and Sora watched in horror as both Patience and Sephiroth tipped over the edge of the bridge and vanished in the deep cavern below.

Sora hit his knees. He had really liked Patience. He wept openly for her on the bridge. Cloud covered his face in dismay.

Sephiroth had impaled Patience – his own daughter – just as he had impaled Aerith. The nightmare was happening all over again! Cloud clawed at his hair and closed his eyes tight. No…

No he would not take Aerith away again…

Not again…

_Cloud_.

Cloud looked up to see Naminé standing on the steel bridge, holding Sora in her arms as he wept.

"Cloud," she said again. "It is done."

"You killed Patience?" The blond cried out in despair and bewilderment.

"I did not want it to happen that way," Naminé insisted.

"It doesn't matter anymore – she's dead. No turning back…" Cloud was talking as much for Aerith as he was for Patience. He kicked the steel bridge with his foot and ignored the sudden sharp pain that followed. "I didn't even get to fight for her."

Naminé tilted her head and looked sadly up to him. "I'm sorry. Listen, Cloud –"

There was a sudden rumbling and the whole bridge began to shake. Sora stood and helped Naminé up. "Let's get back to Vision Shores," the brunette shouted over the loud noise.

Cloud nodded his head and they began to run back.

But before them appeared Sephiroth, bloody and seething. "I will not die that easily."

Cloud pulled forth his sword. Naminé screamed and Sora stepped in front of her to protect her.

Cloud swung angrily at Sephiroth, but the veteran fighter blocked it and ran past him to Naminé. He pushed Sora aside and thrust the sword toward Naminé's middle.

Cloud screamed in horror and Sora gaped at the sword sticking through the girl's middle.

Naminé only smiled. "Third time's the charm."

**XxX**

"I'm searching for my light," Cloud explained to the tall blue man before him.

"Right, right. I got an idea! What say you – work for me – and then we cut ourselves a little deal? Eh? What do you think?" Hades grinned evilly.

Cloud shrugged. "I'll do anything to find it…"

_Anything to find her…_

**XxX**

"Welcome to organization thirteen," the pink haired man smiled nastily at Naminé.

"Wait –" She watched as the massive door shut on her face. She was left in a white room. "I don't understand… why can I restore everyone else's memories, except my own?"

**XxX**

"…Wake up," Kairi shouted to him from what seemed a long way off. Sora opened his eyes, but only saw blue sky. Deathly tired, he began to close them again, but a sharp knock came to his head and he sat up to see Kairi smiling in his face.

"Sora you lazy bum," she giggled. "I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

"No! This big black thing swallowed me up, I couldn't breath I couldn't –" another unpleasant knock to the head.

"Dreaming again?"

"It wasn't a dream! Or, was it? I don't know…"

_A/N: Okay, so a _really_ crappy ending, but viola! The end. That last part I had to do from memory. So – be nice. I know there will be questions… sigh. I will give you the hint about the prologue. Notice how it never fits into the story? ... Maybe it wasn't meant for this story - but it's sequel!_


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